THE  OYSTER 


THE   OYSTER 


A  POPULAR  SUMMARY  OF  A  SCIENTIFIC  STUDY 


BY 


WILLIAM  K.  BROOKS,  PH.  D. 

Professor  of  Animal  Morphology  in  the  yohns  Hopkins  University  and 
Director  of  the  Chesapeake  Zoological  Laboratory. 


BALTIMORE 

THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  PRESS 
I89I 


b  H  3  7  / 


COPYRIGHT,  1891, 
BY  THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  PRESS. 


Pre»»  and  Bindery  of 
Isaac  Frietlentvalil  Co.,  Baltimo 


INTRODUCTION. 

This  book  (for  which  I  have  been  asked  to  write  an 
introductory  note)  is  written  for  the  information  of  all 
who  care  for  oysters, — no  matter  whether  their  point 
of  view  be  that  of  providers  or  consumers, — of  the 
oysterman,  the  money-maker,  the  housekeeper,  the 
legislator,  the  editor,  or  the  student  of  natural  history. 
So  well  is  the  book  written  that  many  parts  of  it  are  as 
fascinating  as  a  story. 

The  facts  that  have  led  to  its  preparation  are  these. 
After  many  years  of  plenty,  Maryland  is  in  danger 
of  an  oyster  famine.  The  supplies  which  nature  bestows 
most  bountifully  have  been  so  treated  that  scarcity  now 
takes  the  place  of  abundance,  anxiety  and  alarm  have 
followed  security.  Authentic  figures  showing  the  de- 
cline and  fall  of  the  oyster  empire  of  the  Chesapeake, 
startle  all  who  consider  them.  It  is  not  only  the 
dredgers,  the  dealers,  the  shuckers,  the  packers,  the 
coopers,  the  tinners,  and  the  carriers,  that  are  to  suffer 
if  this  state  of  affairs  continues,  everybody  in  Mary- 
land will  likewise  suffer  more  or  less.  An  important 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

article  of  food,  that  should  be  as  plentiful  as  it  is 
excellent,  will  grow  more  scarce,  and  a  branch  of 
industry  will  be  cut  off,  which  employs  a  large  amount 
of  labor  and  of  capital  and  so  contributes  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  State,  the  region,  and  the  country.  The 
interior  as  well  as  the  seaboard,  the  farmer  as  well  as 
the  oysterman,  will  be  injured  unless  some  remedy  is 
found. 

The  author  of  this  volume  is  well  known  in  all 
scientific  circles  as  an  accurate,  clear-sighted  and  trust- 
worthy observer.  His  papers  are  received  and  quoted 
by  the  best  authorities  in  every  place  where  the  study 
of  natural  history  is  carried  on.  Not  only  can  he  see 
with  his  trained  eye  and  powerful  glasses,  more  than 
most  people,  but  he  can  state  distinctly  and  without 
any  deviation  from  the  exact  truth,  what  he  sees,  and 
what  he  thinks  of  what  he  sees.  His  life  has  been 
devoted  to  the  careful  observation  of  the  forms  and 
changes  of  form  in  living  beings. 

To  the  study  of  the  oyster  he  has  devoted  a  large 
part  of  his  time  for  more  than  ten  years  past,  having 
been  encouraged  to  do  so  by  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  in  which  he  is  an  honored  professor,  and 
by  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  which  he 
served  as  an  oyster  commissioner  in  1883-4.  He  can 
hold  his  own  not  only  among  naturalists,  but  also 
among  practical  men.  He  has  dredged  in  every  part 


IN  TR  OD  UC  TION.  VI 1 

of  the  bay.  To  use  his  own  words,  he  has  tonged 
oysters  in  five  different  States ;  in  the  warm  waters  of 
the  South,  he  has  spent  months  under  the  broiling 
tropical  sun,  wading  over  the  sharp  shells  which  cut 
the  feet  like  knives,  studying  the  oysters  "at  home." 
He  has  planted  oysters  ;  he  has  reared  them  by  collect- 
ing the  floating  spat;  and  he  has  hatched  from  artifi- 
cially fertilized  eggs  more  oysters  than  there  are 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States.  More  than  this,  he 
has  diligently  studied  the  experience  of  other  States 
and  countries  and  has  gathered  up  the  knowledge  of 
the  world  in  respect  to  the  life  of  the  oyster,  its  ene- 
mies and  its  needs,  its  dangers  and  its  protections. 
The  people  of  Maryland  may  rejoice  that  in  just  this 
crisis,  the  State  has  the  service  of  such  a  citizen,  ready 
without  any  reservations  and  without  any  expectations 
of  reward,  to  give  his  hard-earned  knowledge  to  the 
public. 

But  the  author  has  another  claim  to  be  heard.  He 
is  governed  by  common-sense.  The  difficulty  that 
he  sees  is  summed  up  in  a  single  sentence  that  he 
prints  in  capital  letters,  THE  DEMAND  FOR  CHESAPEAKE 

OYSTERS    HAS   OUTGROWN   THE   NATURAL   SUPPLY.      The 

remedy  he  proposes  is  to  increase  *the  supply  by 
artificial  means.  To  show  what  is  possible  for  the 
propagation  and  protection  of  young  oysters,  he 
describes  in  the  most  interesting  manner,  in  terms 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

scientific  enough  to  be  accurate,  not  so  scientific  as  to 
be  hard  of  understanding,  the  life-history  of  the  bivalve. 
The  oyster's  exposure  to  infantile  dangers,  its  pre- 
ferred home,  its  dietary  habits,  its  susceptibility  of 
culture,  its  wonderful  fecundity,  are  vividly  portrayed. 
Indeed,  this  modest  volume  is  at  once  a  memoir  in 
natural  history  and  a  chapter  of  political  economy. 

DANIEL  C.  OILMAN. 

Office  of  the  President  of  the 

JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY, 
April  14,  1891. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION,   .        .        .        ....        .        v 

CHAPTER    I. — THE    POSSIBILITIES    OF    OYSTER 

CULTURE,     .         .         .         .        . '       .        .         i 

CHAPTER  II. — THE  ANATOMY  OF  THE  OYSTER,    .       15 

CHAPTER  III. —  THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE 

OYSTER,       .        .        .        .  -  .        .      41 

CHAPTER   IV. — THE   ARTIFICIAL   CULTIVATION 

OF  OYSTERS,         .         .        .         .        .         .69 

CHAPTER  V. — THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  DECLINE  OF 
OUR  OYSTER  INDUSTRY,  AND  THE  PROTECTION 
OF  OUR  NATURAL  BEDS,  .  .  .  .145 

CHAPTER  VI. — A  TALK  ABOUT  OYSTERS,    .         .198 
CHAPTER  VII. — THE  REMEDY,    ....     207 


THE  OYSTER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   POSSIBILITIES  OF  OYSTER  CULTURE. 

A  citizen  of  Maryland  will  give  the  oyster  a  high 
place  in  the  list  of  our  resources.  The  vast  number 
of  oysters  which  the  Chesapeake  Bay  has  furnished  in 
the  past  is  ample  proof  of  its  fertility,  but  it  is  difficult 
to  give  any  definite  statement  as  to  its  value.  Statis- 
tics, even  in  recent  years,  are  scanty  and  doubtful,  and 
it  is  not  possible  to  estimate  the  number  of  oysters 
which  our  beds  have  furnished  to  our  people  with  any 
accuracy,  although  it  may  be  computed,  approxi- 
mately, from  indirect  evidence.  The  business  of 
packing  oysters  for  shipment  to  the  interior  was  estab- 
lished in  Maryland  in  1834,  and  from  that  date  to 
quite  recent  years  it  has  grown  steadily  and  con- 
stantly, and,  though  small  and  insignificant  at  first,  it 
has  kept  pace  with  the  development  of  our  country, 
the  growth  of  our  population,  and  the  improvement 
of  means  for  transportation.  For  fifty-six  years  the 
bay  has  furnished  the  oysters  to  meet  this  constantly 
increasing  demand.  The  middle  of  this  period  is  the 
year  1862,  and  as  the  greatest  development  of  the 


2       '        ti  > 2  {^ •  'Tff^OYS 

business  has  taken  place  since,  the  business  of  1862 
may  be  used  as  an  average^ for  the  whole  period, 
with  little  danger  of  error  through  excess.  We  have 
no  statistics  for  1862,  but  in  1865  C.  S.  Maltby  made 
a  very  careful  computation  of  the  oyster  business  of 
the  whole  bay  for  the  year.  He  says  there  were  1000 
boats  engaged  in  dredging  and  1500  canoes  engaged 
in  tonging.  The  dredgers  gathered  3,663,125  bushels 
of  oysters  in  Maryland  and  1,083,209  bushels  in  Vir- 
ginia, while  1,216,375  bushels  were  tonged  in  Maryland 
and  981,791  bushels  in  Virginia,  or  6,954,500  bushels 
in  all.  About  half  of  these  were  sent  to  Baltimore, 
and  the  rest  to  the  following  cities  in  the  following 
order :  Washington,  Alexandria,  Boston,  Fair  Haven, 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  Seaford,  and  Salisbury.  Of 
the  3,465,000  bushels  which  came  to  Baltimore,  62 5,000 
were  consumed  in  the  city  and  its  vicinity,  while 
2,840,000  bushels  were  shipped  to  a  distance  by  Balti- 
more packers.  Ten  years  later  the  harvest  of  oysters 
from  the  bay  had  increased  to  17,000,000  bushels, 
and  it  has  continued  to  increase,  year  after  year,  up 
to  the  last  few  years.  We  may  safely  regard  the 
harvest  of  1865  as  an  approximation  to  the  annual 
average  for  the  whole  period  of  fifty-six  years,  and 
other  methods  of  computation  give  essentially  the 
same  result. 

The  total  harvest  of  oysters  from  the  Chesapeake 
Bay  since  the  establishment  of  the  packing  houses  is 
therefore  about  56  times  7,000,000,  or  392,000,000 
bushels,  and  the  local  consumption  along  the  shores 
of  the  bay  brings  the  grand  total  fully  up  to  four 
hundred  million  bushels. 


THE  OYSTER.  3 

This  inconceivably  vast  amount  of  delicate,  nutri- 
tious food  has  been  yielded  by  our  waters  without 
any  aid  from  man.  It  is  a  harvest  which  no  man  has 
sown  ;  a  free  gift  from  bounteous  nature. 

The  fact  that  our  waters  have  withstood  this  enor- 
mous draft  upon  them,  and  have  continued  for  more 
than  half  a  century  to  meet  our  constantly  increasing 
demands,  is  most  conclusive  evidence  of  their  fertility 
and  value,  and  the  citizens  of  -Maryland  and  Virginia 
might  well  point  with  pride  to  the  boundless  resources 
of  our  magnificent  bay,  were  it  not  for  two  things. 

First  of  these  is  the  fact,  which  for  many  years  we 
strove  to  hide  even  from  ourselves,  that  our  indiffer- 
ence and  lack  of  foresight,  and  our  blind  trust  in  our 
natural  advantages,  have  brought  this  grand  inherit- 
ance to  the  verge  of  ruin.  Unfortunately  this  is  now 
so  clear  that  it  can  no  longer  be  hidden  from  sight 
nor  explained  away,  and  every  one  knows  that,  proud 
as  our  citizens  once  were  of  our  birthright  in  our 
oyster-beds,  we  will  be  unable  to  give  to  our  children 
any  remnant  of  our  patrimony  unless  the  whole  oyster 
industry  is  reformed  without  delay. 

We  have  wasted  our  inheritance  by  improvidence 
and  mismanagement  and  blind  confidence;  but  even 
if  our  beds  had  held  their  own  and  were  to-day  as 
valuable  as  they  were  fifty  years  ago,  this  would  be  no 
just  ground  for  satisfaction,  in  this  age  of  progress,  to 
a  generation  which  has  seen  all  our  other  resources 
developed  and  improved. 

Four  hundred  million  bushels  of  oysters  is  a  vast 
quantity,  and  it  testifies  to  the  immeasurable  value  of 
our  waters  ;  but  every  one  who  has  studied  the  subject, 


4  THE  OYSTER. 

either  on  its  scientific  side  or  in  the  light  of  the 
experience  of  other  countries,  knows  that  the  harvest 
of  oysters  from  our  bay  has  never,  even  at  its  best, 
made  any  approach  to  what  it  might  have  been  if  we 
had  aided  the  bounty  of  nature  by  human  industry  and 
intelligence.  The  four  hundred  million  bushels  is  the 
wild  crop  which  has  been  supplied  by  nature,  without 
any  aid  from  man,  and  it  compares  with  what  we  might 
have  obtained  from  our  waters  in  about  the  same  way 
that  the  nuts  and  berries  which  are  gathered  in  our 
swamps  and  forests  compare  with  the  harvest  from 
our  cultivated  fields  and  gardens  and  orchards. 

When  we  have  learned  to  make  wise  use  of  our 
opportunities,  and  when  the  oyster-beds  of  the  bay 
have  been  brought  to  perfection,  a  harvest  of  four 
hundred  million  bushels  in  half  a  century  will  not  be 
regarded  as  evidence  of  fertility. 

It  will  take  many  years  of  labor  to  bring  the  whole 
bay  under  thorough  cultivation,  and  it  will  require  a 
great  army  of  industrious  and  skillful  farmers,  and 
great  sums  of  money ;  but  the  expense  and  labor  will 
be  much  less  than  an  equal  area  of  land  above  water 
requires  ;  and  while  it  may  be  far  away,  the  time  will 
surely  come  when  the  oyster  harvest  each  year  will  be 
fully  equal  to  the  total  harvest  of  the  last  fifty  years, 
and  it  will  be  obtained  without  depleting  or  exhaust- 
ing the  beds,  and  without  exposing  the  laborers  to 
hardships  or  unusual  risk. 

This  is  not  the  baseless  speculation  of  an  idle  fancy. 
Our  opportunities  for  rearing  oysters  are  unparalleled 
in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  and  in  another  place  I 
have  shown  that,  in  other  countries,  much  less  valuable 


THE  OYSTER.  5 

grounds  have  by  cultivation  been  made  to  yield  oys- 
ters at  a  rate  per  acre  which,  on  our  own  great  beds, 
would  carry  our  annual  harvest  very  far  beyond  the 
sum  of  all  the  oysters  which  have  ever  been  used  by 
the  packers  of  Maryland  and  Virginia. 

This  is  capable  of  proof  by  the  evidence  of  other 
countries,  but  I  wish  to  show  now  that  it  is  proved 
with  equal  conclusiveness  by  the  natural  history  of  the 
oyster. 

The  Chesapeake  Bay  is  one  of  the  richest  agricul- 
tural regions  of  the  earth,  and  its  fertility  can  be  com- 
pared only  with  that  of  the  valleys  of  the  Nile  and  the 
Ganges  and  other  great  rivers.  It  owes  its  fertility  to 
the  very  same  causes  as  those  which  have  enabled  the 
Nile  valley  to  support  a  dense  human  population  for 
untold  ages  without  any  loss  of  fertility  ;  but  it  is 
adapted  for  producing  only  one  crop,  the  oyster. 

All  human  food  is  vegetable  in  its  origin,  and 
whether  we  eat  plants  and  their  products  directly,  or 
use  beef,  mutton,  pork,  /owls  or  eggs  as  food,  it  all 
carries  us  back  to  the  vegetable  kingdom  ;  for  if  there 
were  no  plants,  all  animals  would  starve  at  once. 
Every  one  knows  that  this  is  absolutely  true  of  all  ter- 
restrial animals,  and  all  naturalists  know  that  it  is 
equally  true  of  sea-food.  The  blue-fish  preys  on 
smaller  fishes  ;  many  of  these  on  still  smaller  ones ; 
these  in  their  turn  upon  minute  Crustacea  ;  these  upon 
still  smaller  animals ;  and  these  pasture  on  the  micro- 
scopic plants  which  swarm  at  the  surface  of  the  ocean. 
However  long  the  chain  may  be,  all  animals,  those  of 
the  water  as  well  as  those  of  the  land,  depend  on  plants 
for  food,  although  most  of  the  vegetable  life  of  the 


6  THE  OYSTER. 

ocean  is  of  such  a  character  that  its  existence  is  known 
only  to  naturalists. 

If  there  were  no  plants  all  animals  would  starve,  and 
no  animal  is  a  direct  food-producer,  for  it  can  furnish 
nothing  except  what  it  has  got  from  plants. 

Now,  for  the  purposes  of  animal  life  a  small  plant  is 
as  effective  as  a  large  one,  for  however  small  it  may 
be,  it  still  has  the  power,  which  is  possessed  by  no 
animal,  to  gather  up  the  inorganic  matter  of  the  earth, 
and  to  turn  it  into  vegetable  matter  fit  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  animals.  Microscopic  plants  can  do  this  work 
as  well  as  great  forests  of  lofty  trees,  provided  they 
are  numerous  enough,  and  size  counts  for  nothing. 

Every  one  knows  that  the  sea  is  rich  in  animal  life ; 
that  it  contains  great  banks  covered  with  cod  and  had- 
dock, miles  and  miles  of  water  crowded  full  of  mack- 
erel and  herring,  and  great  monsters  of  the  deep  such 
as  the  whales  and  sharks.  To  the  superficial  observer 
the  vegetation  of  the  sea  appears  to  be  very  scanty, 
and,  except  for  the  fringe  of  sea-weeds  along  the  shore, 
the  great  ocean  seems,  so  far  as  plant  life  is  concerned, 
to  be  a  barren  desert.  If  it  be  true  that  all  animals 
depend  on  plants  for  their  food,  the  vegetation  of  the 
ocean  seems  totally  inadequate  for  the  support  of  its 
animal  life. 

The  microscope  shows  that  its  surface  swarms  with 
minute  plants,  most  of  them  of  strange  forms,  totally 
unlike  any  which  are  familiar,  and  having  nothing  in 
common  with  the  well  known  trees  and  herbs  and 
grasses  of  the  land  except  the  power  to  change  inor- 
ganic matter  into  food  which  is  fit  for  animals. 

Most  of  these  plants  are  so  small  that  they  are  abso- 


THE  OYSTER.  7 

lutely  invisible  to  the  unaided  eye,  and  even  when  they 
are  gathered  together  in  a  mass,  it  looks  like  slimy 
discolored  water  and  presents  no  traces  of  structure. 
They  seem  too  insignificant  to  play  any  important 
part  in  the  economy  of  nature,  but  the  great  monsters 
of  the  deep,  beside  which  the  elephant  and  the  ox  and 
the  elk  are  small  animals,  owe  their  existence  to  these 
microscopic  plants. 

Their  vegetative  power  is  wonderful  past  all  expres- 
sion. Among  land  plants,  corn,  which  yields  seed 
about  a  hundredfold  in  a  single  season,  is  the  emblem 
of  fertility,  but  it  can  be  shown  that  a  single  marine 
plant,  very  much  smaller  than  a  grain  of  mustard  seed, 
would  fill  the  whole  ocean  solid  in  less  than  a  week, 
if  all  its  descendants  were  to  live. 

This  stupendous  fact  is  almost  incredible,  but  it  is 
capable  of  rigorous  demonstration,  and  it  must  be 
clearly  grasped  before  we  can  understand  the  life  of 
the  ocean.  As  countless  minute  animals  are  con- 
stantly pasturing  upon  them,  the  multiplication  of 
these  plants  is  kept  in  check,  but  in  calm  weather  it  is 
no  rare  thing  to  find  great  tracts  of  water  many  miles 
in  extent  packed  so  full  of  them  that  the  whole  surface 
is  converted  into  a  slimy  mass,  which  breaks  the  waves 
and  smooths  the  surface  like  oil.  The  so-called  "black 
water"  of  the  Arctic  and  Antarctic  oceans,  the  home 
and  feeding  ground  of  the  whale,  has  been  shown  by 
microscopic  examination  to  consist  of  a  mass  of  these 
plants  crowded  together  until  the  whole  ocean  is  dis- 
colored by  them.  Through  these  seas  of  "  black 
water"  roam  the  right  whales,  the  largest  animals  on 
earth,  gulping  at  each  mouthful  hundreds  of  gallons 


8  THE  OYSTER. 

of  the  little  mollusca  and  Crustacea  which  feed  on  the 
plants. 

In  tropical  seas,  ships  sometimes  sail  for  days  through 
great  floating  islands  of  this  surface  vegetation,  and 
the  Red  Sea  owes  its  name  to  the  coloration  of  its 
water  by  great  swarms  of  microscopic  plants  which  are 
of  a  reddish  tinge.  The  plant  life  of  the  ocean  is 
ample  for  the  support  of  all  its  animal  life,  just  as  the 
vegetation  of  the  land  gives  a  maintenance  to  all  terres- 
trial animals. 

The  source  of  the  food  of  animals  is  the  vegetable 
world.  What  is  the  source  of  the  food  of  plants? 

Most  of  it  consists  of  mineral  matter,  derived  from 
the  crust  of  the  earth ;  but  before  this  can  be  used  by 
plants  it  must  be  dissolved  in  water.  The  solid  rocks 
cannot  maintain  life  until  they  have  been  ground  down 
and  dissolved,  and  in  the  form  of  frost  and  rain,  water 
is  continually  breaking  down  and  wearing  away  the 
hard  rocks,  and  carrying  the  fragments  down  to  lower 
levels  to  form  the  fertile  land  of  the  hillsides  and 
valleys  and  meadows.  As  the  roots  of  the  plants 
penetrate  this  loose  material  they  gather  up  the  mineral 
food  which  is  dissolved  by  the  rain  and  convert  it  into 
their  own  substance,  and  as  their  leaves  fall  and  their 
trunks  decay,  the  decaying  vegetable  matter  gradually 
builds  up  the  leaf-mould  and  meadow-loam  which  are 
so  well  adapted  for  supporting  vegetable  life.  Each 
year,  however,  the  heavy  rains  wash  great  quantities 
of  this  light,  rich  soil  into  the  rivers,  which  in  times  of 
flood  cut  into  their  banks  and  carry  the  arable  land, 
which  has  been  built  up  so  slowly,  down  to  lower 
levels,  until  at  last  it  finds  its  way  to  the  ocean  and  is 
lost,  so  far  as  its  use  to  man  is  concerned. 


THE   OYSTER.  9 

In  a  long,  flat  river-valley  it  may  be  arrested  for  a 
time,  so  that  man  may  make  use  of  it,  but  its  final 
destination  is  the  ocean,  and  as  this  has  already  been 
enriched  by  the  washings  through  untold  ages,  all 
that  is  most  valuable  for  the  support  of  life  is  now  dis- 
solved in  its  waters,  or  deposited  upon  its  bottom, 
where  man  can  make  no  use  of  it. 

We  love  to  dream  of  the  shipwrecked  treasures 
which  lie  among  the  bones  of  the  sailors  on  the  sea- 
bottom  ;  of  the  galleons  sunk  and  lost  with  their  pre- 
cious cargoes  of  bullion  and  jewels  from  the  treasure- 
chambers  of  the'  Incas  and  the  palaces  of  Asia ;  but 
all  these,  and  all  the  "  gems  of  purest  ray  serene,  the 
dark,  unfathom'd  caves  of  ocean  bear  ":  all  the  thous- 
ands of  tons  of  gold  and  silver  which,  as  chemists  tell 
us,  the  sea  holds  dissolved  in  its  water, — all  these  are 
as  nothing  when  compared  with  these  precious  wash- 
ings from  the  land  of  all  that  fits  it  for  supporting  life. 

Man  will  some  time  assert  his  dominion  over  the 
fishes  of  the  sea,  and  will  learn  to  send  out  flocks  and 
herds  of  domesticated  marine  animals  to  pasture  and 
fatten  upon  the  vegetable  life  of  the  ocean  and  to 
make  its  vast  wealth  of  food  available,  but  at  present 
we  are  able  to  do  little  more  than  to  snatch  a  slight 
tribute  from  the  stream  of  nutritive  material  which  is 
flowing  down  into  the  ocean,  as  it  comes  to  temporary 
rest  in  the  valleys  of  our  great  rivers. 

Every  one  knows  the  part  which  these  great  river- 
valleys  have  played  in  human  civilization.  In  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  of  the  Tigris,  and  of  the  Ganges 
we  find  the  most  dense  populations ;  here  were  the 
great  cities  of  the  past;  here  agriculture  and  architec- 


10  THE  OYSTER. 

ture  were  developed,  and  here  art,  literature  and  sci- 
ence had  their  birth. 

We  owe  to  the  great  river-valleys,  where  the  natural 
fertility  of  the  soil  has  lightened  the  struggle  for 
bread  and  has  afforded  leisure  for  higher  matters,  all 
that  is  most  distinctive  of  civilized  man. 

The  Chesapeake  Bay  is  a  great  river-valley;  not  as 
large  as  that  of  the  Nile  or  Ganges,  but  of  enough  con- 
sequence to  play  an  important  part  in  human  affairs, 
and  to  support  in  comfort  and  prosperity  a  population 
as  great  as  that  of  many  famous  states.  It  receives 
the  drainage  of  a  vast  area  of  fertile  land  stretching 
over  the  meadows  and  hillsides  of  nearly  one-third  of 
New  York,  and  nearly  all  of  the  great  agricultural  states 
of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia.  The  most 
valuable  part  of  the  soil  of  this  great  tract  of  farming 
land,  more  than  forty  million  acres  in  area,  ultimately 
finds  its  way  to  the  bay,  in  whose  quiet  waters  it 
makes  a  long  halt  on  its  journey  to  the  ocean,  and  it 
is  deposited,  all  over  the  bay,  in  the  form  of  fine,  light, 
black  sediment,  known  as  oyster-mud. 

This  is  just  as  valuable  to  man,  and  just  as  fit  to 
nourish  plants,  as  the  mud  which  settles  every,  year  on 
the  wheat  fields  and  rice  fields  of  Egypt.  It  is  a 
natural  fertilizer  of  inestimable  importance,  and  it  is  so 
rich  in  organic  matter  that  it  putrefies  in  a  few  hours 
when  exposed  to  the  sun.  In  the  shallow  waters  of 
the  bay,  under  the  influence  of  the  warm  sunlight,  it 
produces  a  most  luxuriant  vegetation;  but  with  few 
exceptions,  the  plants  which  grow  upon  it  are  micro- 
scopic and  invisible,  and  their  very  existence  is  un- 
known to  all  except  a  few  naturalists.  They  are  not 


THE  OYSTER.  II 

confined  like  land  plants  to  the  surface  of  the  soil,  and 
while  they  are  found  in  great  abundance  on  the  surface 
of  the  mud,  they  are  not  restricted  to  it,  for  their  food  is 
diffused  in  solution  through  the  whole  body  of  water, 
and  the  mud  itself  is  so  light  that  it  is  in  a  state  of 
semi-suspension,  and  the  little  plants  have  ample 
room  among  its  particles. 

On  land,  the  plant-producing  area  is  a  surface,  but 
the  total  plant-producing  acreage  of  the  bay  is  many 
times  greater  than  the  superficial  area  of  its  bottom. 

As  the  little  plants  are  bathed  on  all  sides  by  food, 
they  do  not  have  to  go  through  the  slow  process  of 
sucking  it  up  through  roots  and  stems,  and  they  grow 
and  multiply  at  a  rate  which  has  no  parallel  in  ordinary 
familiar  plants ;  and  they  would  quickly  choke  up 
the  whole  bay  if  they  were  not  held  in  check ;  but 
their  excessive  increase  is  prevented  by  countless 
minute  animals  which  feast  upon  them  and  turn  the 
plant  substance  into  animal  matter,  to  become  in  their 
turn  food  for  larger  animals.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they 
are  not  very  abundant,  but  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
finding  them  in  any  part  of  the  bay,  by  straining  the 
water  through  a  fine  cloth.  In  this  way  we  obtain  a 
fine  sediment,  which  is  shown  by  the  microscope  to 
consist  almost  entirely  of  them. 

The  variety  of  these  microscopic  plants  and  animals 
is  very  great,  and  a  series  of  big  volumes  would  be 
needed  to  describe  the  microscopic  flora  and  fauna  of 
the  bay.  Most  of  them  occur  in  other  waters  as  well, 
but  many  are  peculiar  to  the  bay,  which  is  an  excep- 
tionally favored  spot  for  their  growth. 

The    exploration    of   this   invisible  world    with   a 


12  THE  OYSTER. 

microscope  is  an  unfailing  delight  to  the  naturalist, 
but  at  first  sight  it  seems  to  have  no  particular  bearing 
on  human  life.  The  ability  to  turn  inorganic  mineral 
matter  into  food  for  animals  and  for  man  does  not 
depend  on  size,  and  in  this  work  the  microscopic  flora 
of  the  bay  is  as  efficient  as  corn  or  potatoes,  but  infi- 
nitely more  active  and  energetic. 

In  the  oyster  we  have  an  animal,  most  nutritious 
and  palatable,  especially  adapted  for  living  in  the 
soft  mud  of  bays  and  estuaries,  and  for  gathering  up 
the  microscopic  inhabitants  and  turning  them  into 
food  for  man. 

The  fitness  of  the  oyster  for  this  peculiar  work — for 
bringing  back  to  us  the  mineral  wealth  which  the 
rivers  steal  from  our  hillsides  and  meadows — is  so 
complete  and  admirable,  so  marvellous  and  instruc- 
tive, that  it  cannot  be  comprehended  in  its  complete 
significance,  without  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
anatomy  and  embryology  of  the  oyster. 

This  book  is  not  a  scientific  treatise ;  its  purpose  is 
practical,  and  it  will  aim  at  the  treatment  of  its  sub- 
ject in  its  relations  to  practical  ends ;  but  we  cannot 
fully  appreciate  the  great  possibilities  of  our  bay 
without  something  more  than  the  vague  and  erro- 
neous notions  regarding  the  nature  of  the  oyster 
which  are  generally  current. 

The  inestimable  value  of  our  inheritance  in  the 
black  mud  of  the  bay  has  been  pointed  out,  and  it 
now  remains  to  show  that  the  oyster  is  an  animal 
which  has  been  especially  evolved  for  life  in  this  mud, 
and  that  through  its  aid  we  may  make  our  inheritance 
available.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  the  oyster  will 


THE  OYSTER.  13 

teach  much  more  than  this.  It  will  show  the  capacity 
of  the  oyster  for  cultivation,  and  it  will  also  show  why 
its  cultivation  is  necessary,  and  why  our  resources 
can  never  be  fully  developed  by  oysters  in  a  state  of 
nature.  We  have  never  enjoyed  the  hundredth  part 
of  our  advantage,  nor  can  we  ever  do  so  if  we  continue 
to  rely  upon  nature  alone ;  and  this  fact,  which  has 
been  proved  again  and  again  by  statistics,  is  perfectly 
clear  to  any  one  who  knows  what  an  oyster  is,  and 
what  are  its  relations  to  the  world  around  it.  As  its 
world  is  chiefly  microscopic,  no  one  can  penetrate  into 
the  secrets  of  its  structure  and  history  without  training 
in  the  technical  methods  of  the  laboratory ;  and  busi- 
ness contact  with  the  oyster  cannot  possibly,  with  any 
amount  of  experience,  give  any  real  insight  into  its 
habits  and  mode  of  life. 

I  speak  on  this  subject  with  the  diffidence  of  one 
who  has  been  frequently  snubbed  and  repressed;  for 
while  I  am  myself  sure  of  the  errors  of  the  man  who 
tonged  oysters  long  before  I  was  born,  and  who  loudly 
asserts  his  right  to  know  all  about  it,  it  is  easier  to 
acquiesce  than  to  struggle  against  such  overwhelming 
ignorance,  so  I  have  learned  to  be  submissive  in  the 
presence  of  the  elderly  gentleman  who  studied  the 
embryology  of  the  oyster  when  years  ago  as  a  boy  he 
visited  his  grandfather  on  the  Eastern  Shore,  and  to 
listen  with  deference  to  the  shucker  as  he  demonstrates 
to  me  at  his  raw-box,  by  the  aid  of  his  hammer  and 
shucking  knife,  the  fallacy  of  my  notions  of  the  struc- 
ture of  the  animal. 

Still  I.  may  be  permitted  to  state  that  I  am  not 
totally  without  experience.  I  have  dredged  oysters 


14  THE  OYSTER. 

in  every  part  of  the  bay,  from  Swan  Point  and  the 
Bodkin,  to  Craney  Island  and  Lynn  Haven.  I  have 
tonged  oysters  in  five  different  States ;  and  in  the 
warm  waters  of  the  South,  where  frost  is  unknown 
and  the  oysters  flourish  above  low-tide  mark,  I  have 
enjoyed  the  opportunity  to  explore  the  natural  beds, 
and  have  spent  months,  under  the  broiling  tropical  sun, 
wading  over  the  sharp  shells  which  cut  the  feet  like 
knives,  studying  the  oysters  at  home.  I  have  planted 
oysters ;  I  have  reared  them  by  collecting  the  floating 
spat ;  and  I  have  hatched  from  artificially  fertilized 
eggs  more  oysters  than  the  number  of  people  in  the 
last  census ;  and  I  boldly  claim  enough  practical 
experience  to  acquit  me  from  the  charge  that  my 
views  are  theoretical. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   ANATOMY   OF   THE   OYSTER. 

The  most  prominent  fact  in  the  organization  of  the 
oyster  is  its  shell.  Its  body  is  shut  in  between  two 
long  concave  stony  doors,  which  are  made  of  lime- 
stone, and  are  fastened  together  at  one  end,  somewhat 
in  the  same  way  that  the  covers  of  a  long,  narrow 
check-book  are  bound  together  at  the  back.  One  of 
these  shells,  the  flat  one,  is  on  the  right  side  of  the 
body,  and  the  other,  which  is  much  deeper,  on  the 
left.  When  oysters  are  fastened  to  each  other  or  to 
rocks,  the  left  shell  is  attached,  and  the  oyster  lies  on 
its  left  side.  When  it  is  at  home  and  undisturbed  its 
shell  is  open,  so  that  the  water  circulates  within  it,  but 
when  disturbed  it  shuts  its  shell  with  a  snap,  and  is 
able  to  keep  it  firmly  closed  for  a  long  time.  The 
snapping  drives  out  the  water,  together  with  any  irri- 
tating substances  which  may  find  their  way  in,  and  on 
the  natural  beds'  the  oysters  snap  their  shells  shut, 
from  time  to  time,  for  this  purpose.  The  snapping  is 
popularly  called  feeding,  but  it  is  nothing  of  the  kind. 
It  serves  to  drive  food  out  instead  of  taking  it  in,  and 
so  long  as  the  shell  is  open  a  gentle  current  of  water  is 
drawn  in  by  a  delicate  piece  of  microscopic  machinery 
which  will  be  explained  later  on.  The  food  of  the 


1 6  THE   OYSTER. 

oyster  consists  of  invisible  organisms  which  float  in 
the  water  and  are  drawn  in  with  it. 

The  apparatus  for  opening  and  closing  the  shell  is 
very  interesting.  If  you  were  to  open  a  check-book, 
and  were  to  wedge  a  piece  of  rubber  between  the 
leaves,  close  to  the  back,  it  would  form  a  spring,  which 
would  be  squeezed  by  closing  the  book,  and  would 
open  it  again  when  released.  A  book  with  such  a 
spring  would  be  open  at  all  times,  except  when  forci- 
bly closed.  Wedged  in  between  the  two  shells  of  the 
oyster,  at  their  narrow  ends,  is  an  elastic  pad,  the 
hinge-ligament,  which  acts  in  exactly  the  same  way. 
When  the  shell  is  forcibly  closed  the  ligament  is 
squeezed,  and  it  expands  when  it  is  released  and  thus 
throws  the  free  edges  of  the  shells  apart.  The  liga- 
ment is  not  alive.  It  is  formed,  like  the  shell  itself,  as 
an  excretion  from  the  living  tissues  of  the  oyster,  and 
its  action  is  not  under  the  control  of  the  animal.  It 
keeps  the  shell  open  at  all  times,  unless  it  is  counter- 
acted, and  for  this  reason  an  oyster  at  rest  and  undis- 
turbed, or  a  dead  oyster,  always  has  its  shell  open. 

The  active  work  of  squeezing  the  passive  ligament 
and  closing  the  shell  is  done  by  a  large,  powerful 
muscle,  made  up  of  a  bundle  of  contractile  fibres 
which  run  across  the  body  between  the  shells,  and  are 
fastened  to  their  inner  surfaces  over  the  dark-colored 
spots  which  are  always  to  be  seen  on  empty  oyster 
shells.  The  muscle  is  known  to  oyster-openers  as  the 
heart,  and  they  assure  you  that  when  this  is  cut,  the  vital 
point,  the  seat  of  the  oyster's  life,  is  reached  and  that 
a  wound  here  causes  instant  death.  This  is  of  course 
an  error,  and  cutting  the  muscle  causes  the  shell  to 


THE  OYSTER.  \*J 

open  simply  because  it  destroys  the  animal's  power  to 
close  it ;  but  a  fresh  oyster  on  the  half-shell  is  no  more 
dead  than  an  ox  which  has  been  hamstrung.  Any 
one  who  has  struggled  with  an  oyster-knife  to  force 
open  an  obstinate  thick-shelled  specimen,  knows  the 
great  strength  of  this  little  muscle.  It  is  said  that 
when  fishermen  are  caught  by  the  feet  or  hands 
between  the  shells  of  the  giant  clam  of  the  Pacific,  they 
never  escape  alive,  but  are  held,  as  if  by  a  vise,  until 
the  tide  rises  and  drowns  them  ;  but  firmly  as  the 
muscle  of  the  oyster  holds  the  shell  together,  a  little 
skill  is  all  that  is  needed  to  overcome  it.  Some  years 
ago,  while  on  the  State  Oyster  Commission,  I  stood 
with  my  watch  in  my  hand,  in  a  Crisfield  packing- 
house, and  timed  a  young  man,  who,  with  nothing  but 
a  small  thin  knife,  opened  thirty  oysters  in  a  minute. 
He  worked  with  the  precision  of  a  machine,  and  made 
six  motions  for  each  oyster.  One  hand  took  the  oys- 
ter from  the  pile  at  his  side,  the  other  cut  the  muscle 
from  the  upper  shell ;  a  third  movement  threw  the 
shell  away ;  a  fourth  forced  the  oyster  from  the  other 
shell ;  a  fifth  threw  it  into  a  tin  bucket,  and  the  second 
shell  was  thrown  aside  by  the  last  movement.  He  was 
very  proud  of  his  skill  and  of  the  prizes  he  had  taken, 
and  although  he  seemed  to  have  abundant  assurance, 
he  explained  that  his  movements  were  retarded  by 
his  diffidence  in  the  presence  of  state  commissioners, 
and  he  said  that,  when  free  from  embarrassment,  he 
could  "shuck"  thirty-six  oysters  a  minute. 

The  work  of  closing  the  shell  is  done  by  the  muscle, 
but  we  must  go  very  much  farther  in  tlie  study  of  the 
oyster  in  order  to  find  why  it  closes.  It  is  opened  by 


1 8  THE  OYSTER. 

the  mechanical  properties  of  the  ligament,  but  the 
cause  of  its  closure  cannot  be  the  mechanical  proper- 
ties of  the  muscle,  for  these  are  just  the  same  whether 
it  is  open  or  at  rest.  Careful  investigation  shows  the 
existence  of  a  wonderful  apparatus,  consisting  of  the 
muscle  which  does  the  work,  of  nerves  which  connect 
the  muscle  with  the  brain,  of  other  nerves  which  run 
to  the  more  exposed  parts  of  the  oyster's  body,  and  of 
sense  organs  which  are  connected  with  the  ends  of  these 
sensory  nerves,  and  these  serve  to  put  the  animal  into 
communication  with  the  external  world.  Though 
very  much  simpler,  the  mechanism  is  essentially  like 
that  of  our  own  bodies.  The  oyster's  shell  is  lined  by 
a  fleshy  mantle,  which  is  fringed  by  a  border  of  dark- 
colored  sensory  tentacles,  which  are  partially  exposed 
when  the  shell  is  opened.  The  approach  of  danger  is 
perceived  by  these  organs,  which  transmit  a  sensation 
of  danger  along  the  sensory  nerves  to  the  brain,  and 
this  in  turn  sends  a  nervous  discharge  along  another 
set  of  nerves  to  the  muscle,  and  this  shortens  under 
the  stimulus  and  pulls  the  shells  together  and  holds 
them  fast. 

The  contrast  between  the  opening  and  the  shutting  of 
the  oyster's  shell  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  dif- 
ference between  vital  activity  and  non-vital  action.  The 
explanation  of  the  movement  which  opens  the  shell  is 
found  in  the  physical  properties  of  the  ligament,  and 
a  piece  of  rubber  in  the  same  place  would  produce  the 
same  effect ;  but  while  the  closure  of  the  shell  is  un- 
doubtedly due  to  the  physical  properties  of  the  muscle, 
in  order  to  fincl  the  reason  for  its  action  we  must  carry 
our  investigation  very  much  farther,  and  must  learn 


THE    OYSTER.  T9 

what  was  the  change,  external  to  the  oyster,  which 
excited  the  sense  organs,  and  must  ask  how  the  oyster 
has  learned  to  associate  such  a  sensation  with  the 
presence  of  danger,  and  how  it  has  learned  that  the 
danger  may  be  escaped  by  closing  the  shell. 

It  is  much  more  easy  to  ask  this  question  than  to 
answer  it.  The  oyster  is  by  no  means  a  simple  animal, 
and  our  efforts  to  study  and  understand  its  structure 
bring  us,  at  the  first  step,  face  to  face  with  problems  of 
the  most  profound  character;  problems  which  will  tax 
all  the  resources  of  investigators  and  philosophers  for 
many  generations.  We  will  not,  however,  enter  into 
these  deep  questions,  but  will  confine  ourselves  to 
simpler  matters. 

The  muscle  is  attached  to  the  shell  at  some  distance 
from  the  hinge,  in  order  that  it  may  have  leverage  and 
work  to  advantage ;  and  it  must  therefore  be  able  to 
move  as  the  shell  grows,  for  in  an  oyster  three  inches 
long  its  area  of  attachment  is  outside  what  was  the 
extreme  border  of  the  shell  when  this  was  only  an 
inch  long.  The  muscle  travels  by  the  addition  of  new 
fibres  on  its  outer  surface,  together  with  the  absorption 
and  removal  of  those  on  its  inner  border.  As  it  moves, 
the  old  impression  on  the  shell  is  gradually  covered  up 
by  new  deposits  of  lime,  and  in  an  empty  shell  it  may  be 
traced  for  some  distance  up  towards  the  hinge,  when  it 
gradually  becomes  more  faintly  marked, as  the  layers  of 
new  shell  grow  thicker.  A  very  good  idea  of  the  way 
the  shell  grows  and  keeps  pace  with  the  growth  of  the 
body,  may  be  gained  by  the  careful  examination  of  the 
muscular  impression  on  its  inner  surface.  Every  fool 
knows  why  a  snail  has  a  house,  but  the  king  could 


20  THE  OYSTER. 

not  tell  how  an  oyster  makes  his  shell.  We  can  now 
give  a  satisfactory  answer  to  what  will  not,  I  hope,  be 
thought  a  fool's  question :  "  Canst  tell  how  an  oyster 
makes  his  shell  ?" 

The  shell,  on  each  side  of  the  body,  is  lined  by  a 
thin,  delicate,  fleshy  fold,  the  mantle ;  which  may  be 
compared  to  the  outer  leaf  on  each  side  of  the  check- 
book, next  the  cover.  It  lies  close  against  the  inside  of 
the  shell,  and  forms  a  delicate  living  lining  to  protect 
the  body  and  the  gills,  and  it  is  also  the  gland  which 
makes  the  shell. 

At  all  times,  while  the  animal  is  alive,  it  is  laying 
down  new  layers  of  pearl  over  its  whole  inner  surface, 
and  as  each  successive  layer  is  a  little  larger  in  area 
than  the  one  before,  the  shell  increases  in  size  as  well 
as  in  thickness,  and  the  hinge,  where  there  are  many 
layers,  is  very  thick,  while  the  edge,  which  is  new,  is 
quite  thin  and  sharp.  Each  layer  is  very  thin,  hardly 
thicker  than  a  sheet  of  tissue  paper,  but  the  deposition 
of  layer  on  layer  gradually  results  in  a  solid  box  of 
stone. 

Shells  which  grow  on  rough,  irregular  surfaces  con- 
form to  their  shape  as  perfectly  as  if  they  had  been 
moulded  into  the  ridges  and  furrows,  like  soft  clay. 
An  oyster  growing  in  the  neck  of  a  bottle  takes  the 
smooth,  regular  curve  of  the  glass,  and  on  the  claw  of 
a  crab  an  oyster  shell  sometimes  follows  all  the  angles 
and  ridges  and  spines,  as  if  it  were  made  of  wax  instead 
of  inflexible  stone.  Its  apparent  plasticity  and  the 
mouldings  of  its  surface  are  due  to  the  flexibility  of 
the  soft  edge  of  the  mantle.  When  the  oyster  is  at 
rest  this  protrudes  a  little  beyond  the  edge  of  the  shell, 


THE  OYSTER.  21 

so  that  each  new  layer  is  a  little  larger  in  area  than 
the  last  one.  The  soft  mantle  readily  conforms  to  the 
shape  of  the  body  to  which  the  oyster  is  fastened, 
and  however  irregular  this  maybe,  the  new  shell  takes 
its  shape  and  closely  adheres  to  it,  because  the  new 
deposits  are  laid  down  directly  upon  it. 

You  will  see  from  this  account  the  error  of  the 
current  belief  that  an  old  oyster  cannot  fasten  itself. 
Since  the  adhesion  takes  place  around  the  growing 
edge,  an  oyster  may  fasten  itself  at  any  time,  and 
clusters  of  oysters  are  often  found  with  their  shells 
soldered  together  near  their  tips.  This  can  of  course 
only  occur  after  they  are  well  grown. 

Oysters  are  able  to  close  up  broken  places  in  their 
shells,  and  most  molluscs  sometimes  absorb  and  rebuild 
parts  of  the  shell.  If  any  foreign  body  gets  in  between 
the  shell  and  the  mantle,  shelly  matter  is  deposited 
upon  it.  The  pearls  of  the  pearl  oyster  are  formed  in 
this  way.  Some  small  particle,  such  as  a  grain  of 
sand,  works  its  way  in,  and  forms  a  nucleus  which  is 
gradually  covered  by  layer  after  layer  of  pearl.  The 
brilliant  lustre,  as  well  as  that  of  mother-of-pearl, 
which  is  nothing  but  polished  shell,  is  due  to  the 
interference  of  light  caused  by*  the  laminated  structure. 

It  is  said  that  the  Chinese  manufacture  pearls,  or 
rather  make  the  pearl  oyster  do  the  work  for  them,  by 
inserting  between  the  shell  and  the  mantle  strings  of 
small  shot.  Did  you  ever  see  one  of  the  sacred  clam 
shells  which  the  Chinese  Buddhists  believe  to  have  a 
miraculous  origin  ?  They  are  often  found  in  collec- 
tions. The  inside  of  the  shell  has  a  beautiful  pearl  lustre, 
and  along  it  is  a  row  of  little  fat  images  of  Buddha, 


22  THE   OYSTER. 

squatting  with  his  legs  crossed  under  him,  and  his 
elbows  on  his  knees :  they  are  formed  of  pearl  pre- 
cisely like  that  which  lines  the  rest  of  the  shell,  a  little 
raised  above  its  surface  and  outlined  in  faint  relief, 
but  they  are  part  of  the  shell,  with  no  break  nor  joint. 
In  the  process  of  manufacturing  them,  the  shell  of 
the  living  animal  is  wedged  open,  and  thin  images, 
punched  out  of  a  sheet  of  bell-metal,  are  inserted. 
The  animal  is  then  returned  to  the  water,  and  is  left 
there  until  enough  new  shell  has  been  formed  to 
cover  them  with  a  varnish  of  pearl  thick  enough  to 
fasten  them,  and  to  hide  the  metal,  while  permitting 
the  raised  outline  to  be  seen. 

Several  years  ago  it  occurred  to  me  that  a  series  of 
microscopic  specimens  of  stages  in  the  growth  of  the 
shell  might  be  obtained  in  the  same  way,  and  that,  by 
studying  them,  the  whole  history  of  the  process  might 
be  traced.  One  of  my  students,  at  my  suggestion,  put 
into  the  shells  of  a  number  of  oysters  thin  glass  circles, 
such  as  are  used  to  cover  microscopic  specimens.  The 
oysters  were  then  returned  to  the  water,  and  were  left 
undisturbed  until  new  shell  began  to  be  formed  on  the 
glasses.  These  were  then  taken  out  and  studied  under 
the  microscope. 

At  the  end  of  twenty -four  hours  the  glass  was  found 
to  be  covered  by  a  transparent,  faintly  brown  film  of 
thin  gummy  deposit,  which  exhibited  no  evidences  of 
structure,  and  contained  no  visible  particles  of  lime, 
although  it  effervesced  when  treated  with  acids,  thus 
showing  that  it  contained  particles  too  small  to  be 
visible  with  a  microscope.  The  gummy  film  is  poured 
out  t  from  the  wall  of  the  mantle,  and  in  forty -eight 


THE  OYSTER,  2$ 

hours  it  forms  a  tough  leathery  membrane  fastening 
the  glass  cover  to  the  inside  of  the  shell.  At  about 
this  time  the  invisible  particles  of  lime  begin  to  aggre- 
gate and  to  form  little  flat  crystals,  hexagonal  in  out- 
line, and  about  ^^  of  an  inch  long.  The  crystals 
grow  and  unite  into  little  bundles  or  groups,  and  new 
ones  appear  between  the  old  ones,  until,  at  the  end  of 
six  days,  the  film  has  completely  lost  its  leathery  char- 
acter and  has  become  stony,  from  the  great  amount  of 
lime  present  in  it.  In  three  or  four  weeks  the  glass 
cover  is  completely  built  into  the  shell  and  can  no 
longer  be  seen,  and  its  place  is  only  to  be  traced  by 
its  form,  which  is  perfectly  preserved  upon  the  inner 
surface  of  the  shell.  When  broken  out  it  is  found  to 
be  coated  with  a  thick  plate  of  white  shell,  which  is 
beautifully  smooth  and  pearly  upon  the  side  nearest 
the  glass. 

Microscopic  examination  of  this  plate  shows  that  it 
is  made  up  of  an  immense  number  of  minute  crystals, 
packed  and  crowded  together  into  a  solid  mass,  with- 
out any  regular  arrangement.  These  observations 
show  that  the  new  layers  are  thrown  off  in  the  form 
of  a  gummy  excretion  from  the  mantle,  with  the  lime 
in  solution,  and  that  the  particles  unite  with  each  other 
and  form  crystals  while  the  gum  is  hardening. 

The  oyster  obtains  the  lime,  for  its  shell  from  the 
water,  and  while  the  amount  dissolved  in  each  gallon 
is  very  small,  it  extracts  enough  to  provide  for  the 
slow  growth  of  the  shell.  It  is  very  important  that 
the  shell  be  built  up  as  rapidly  as  possible,  for  the 
oyster  has  many  enemies  continually  on  the  watch  for 
thin-shelled  specimens.  In  the  lower  part  of  the  bay 


24  THE   OYSTER. 

I  have  leaned  over  a  wharf  and  watched  the  sheeps- 
head  moving  up  and  down  with  their  noses  close  to 
the  piles,  crushing  the  shells  of  the  young  oysters 
between  their  strong  jaws  and  sucking  out  the  soft 
bodies.  As  I  watched  them  I  have  seen  the  juices 
from  the  bodies  of  the  little  oysters  streaming  down 
from  the  corners  of  their  mouths,  to  be  swept  away  by 
the  tide. 

The  sooner  a  young  oyster  can  make  a  shell  thick 
enough  to  resist  such  attacks  the  better,  not  only  for 
the  oyster  but  for  us  also;  for  once  past  this  dangerous 
stage  of  development,  there  is  a  prospect  that  it  may 
live  to  complete  its  growth ;  although  it  is  true  that 
the  fully  grown  oyster  has  many  enemies  which  either 
crush  the  shell  or  pull  it  apart,  or  else  bore  holes 
through  it  in  order  to  reach  the  delicate  flesh  within. 
At  all  times  in  its  life  its  chance  of  survival  is  greatest 
when  the  supply  of  lime  is  so  abundant  that  it  is  able 
to  construct  rapidly  a  thick,  massive  shell.  The  rate  of 
growth  of  any  animal  must  be  regulated  by  the  supply 
of  that  necessary  ingredient  of  its  food  which  is  least 
abundant,  as  may  be  illustrated  in  many  ways.  To 
run  a  locomotive  the  engineer  must  have  fuel  and 
water  and  oil.  He  needs  very  little  oil,  but  that  little 
he  must  have.  After  this  is  gone,  an  unlimited  supply 
of  fuel  and  water  will  not  help  him.  He  must  have 
oil  or  stop.  So,  too,  if  he  have  plenty  of  oil  and  fuel, 
but  only  a  little  water,  he  must  stop  as  soon  as  the 
water  fails.  In  general,  the  amount  of  work  he  can 
do  is  determined  by  his  supply  of  that  of  which  he  has 
least.  If  food  in  general  is  abundant  while  there  is  a 
scarcity  of  one  necessary  article,  growth  can  take  place 


THE  OYSTER.  2$ 

only  so  fast  as  the  scarce  article  can  be  procured.  A 
superfluity  of  other  things  is  of  no  value,  for  it  cannot 
be  utilized. 

There  are  many  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
growth  of  oysters  is  limited  by  the  supply  of  lime, 
and  that  all  the  other  necessary  ingredients  of  their 
food  are  so  abundant  that  an  increase  in  the  supply  of 
lime  would  cause  more  rapid  growth,  greater  safety 
from  enemies,  and  an  increase  in  the  number  of  oysters. 
All  kinds  of  shelled  molluscs  grow  more  rapidly,  and 
reach  a  greater  size,  and  have  stronger  and  thicker 
shells  in  coral  seas,  where  the  supply  of  lime  is 
unlimited,  than  in  other  waters.  In  some  parts  of  the 
Bahamas  the  large  pink-lipped  conch,  the  one  which 
we  often  see  for  sale  in  the  fruit  stores  of  Baltimore, 
is  so  abundant  that  whole  islands,  large  enough  to  be 
inhabited,  are  entirely  made  up  of  the  broken  frag- 
ments of  these  beautiful  shells,  which  have  been 
pounded  to  pieces  and  heaped  up  by  the  waves. 

The  fresh-water  mussels  of  our  western  rivers  are 
very  large  in  limestone  regions,  and  so  abundant  that 
the  bottom  is  almost  paved  with  them,  while  in  another 
river,  perhaps  only  a  few  miles  away,  but  flowing 
through  a  country  where  there  is  little  lime,  they  are 
few  and  very  small,  with  thin,  fragile  shells. 

If  you  turn  over  the  old  bones  which  are  sometimes 
found  in  the  woods  and  fields,  you  will  nearly  always 
find  a  number  of  snails  which  have  been  drawn  to 
them  for  the  sake  of  the  lime. 

In  order  that  the  oyster  may  grow  rapidly,  and  may 
be  securely  protected  from  its  enemies,  it  must  have 
lime.     The  lime  in  the  water  of  the  bay  is  derived  in 
2 


26  THE  OYSTER. 

great  part  from  the  springs  of  the  interior,  which,  flow- 
ing through  limestone  regions,  carry  some  of  it  away 
in  solution,  and  this  is  finally  carried  down  the  rivers 
and  into  the  bay.  Some  of  it  is  no  doubt  derived  from 
deposits  of  rock  in  the  bed  of  the  ocean,  and  some  from 
the  soil  along  the  shores.  Now,  the  geologist  will 
tell  you  that  the  limestone  rock  has  all  of  it  at  one  time 
been  part  of  the  bodies  of  living  animals.  Limestone 
is  either  old  reefs  of  fossil  coral,  or  beds  of  extinct 
shells,  or  the  skeletons  of  other  animals  and  plants 
which  lived  in  remote  ages  and  stored  up  the  lime 
from  the  ocean  at  a  time  when  it  was  more  abundant 
than  it  is  now.  The  oyster  gets  the  greater  part  of  its 
lime  from  these  sources  in  this  roundabout  way,  but  a 
very  considerable  portion  is  obtained  in  a  much  more 
direct  way,  by  the  decomposition  of  old  oyster  shells. 

We  save  up  egg  shells  to  feed  laying  hens,  but  we 
waste  our  oyster  shells  in  every  possible  way,  and 
treat  them  as  if  they  were  of  no  value.  Some  are 
burned  for  lime,  some  are  used  for  making  roads  and 
wharves,  some  are  used  for  filling  in  low  land,  some 
are  dumped  in  great  piles  at  convenient  spots  in  the 
bay,  where  they  sink  far  down  into  the  mud  and  are 
lost. 

I  shall  show  you  soon  that  there  is  another  far  more 
important  reason  why  they  should  be  returned  to  the 
beds,  but  their  value  as  food  for  the  oyster  is  very 
great,  and  should  lead  us  to  return  them  to  the  beds. 
On  the  oyster-beds  an  old  shell  is  soon  honeycombed 
by  boring  sponges  and  other  animals,  and  as  soon  as 
the  sea-water  is  thus  admitted  to  its  interior,  it  is 
rapidly  dissolved  and  diffused.  In  a  few  years  nothing 


THE  OYSTER.  2*J 

is  left.  It  has  all  gone  back  into  a  form  which  makes 
it  available  as  oyster  food,  and  it  soon  begins  its  trans- 
formation into  new  oyster  shells.  In  this  way  the 
oysters  obtain  some  of  their  lime  directly  without 
being  compelled  to  draw  on  the  inland  beds  of  ancient 
fossils,  and  if  all  the  shells  could  be  returned  to  the 
beds,  this  source  of  supply  would  be  greatly  increased. 
The  difference  between  the  right  and  the  left  shells 
of  the  oyster  has  a  very  profound  significance,  for  in 
science  nothing  is  trivial  or  unimportant.  Most  of 
the  near  relations  of  the  oyster,  like  the  clam  and  the 
fresh-water  mussel,  have  the  two  sides  of  the  body,  and 
the  two  shells,  alike.  These  animals  are  not  fastened 
nor  stationary  like  the  oyster*  They  move  from  place 
to  place  in  search  of  food,  and  their  line  of  locomotion 
lies  in  the  plane  which  divides  the  body  into  halves. 
They  are  erect  and  bilaterally  symmetrical  like  other 
locomotor  animals,  such  as  the  horse,  the  fish,  the 
butterfly  and  the  crab.  The  full-grown  oyster  has  no 
locomotor  power  and  it  lies  on  its  left  side,  but  in  the 
early  part  of  its  life  it  is  very  active,  and  is  then  bilat- 
erally symmetrical  like  the  clam.  When  it  ceases 
its  wanderings  and  settles  down  for  life,  it  topples 
over,  falls  on  its  left  side,  and  fastens  itself  by  its  left 
shell,  which  soon  grows  deep  and  spoon-shaped,  while 
the  right  becomes  a  flat,  movable  lid.  The  body, 
which  was  originally  symmetrical,  becomes  dis- 
torted or  twisted  to  fit  the  difference  in  the  shells, 
and  naturalists  see  in  the  fact  that  the  locomotor 
relations  of  the  oyster  are  symmetrical  through  life, 
while  the  oyster  loses  its  symmetry  as  soon  as  it 
settles  down,  one  of  the  proofs  that  it  is  descended 


28  THE  OYSTER. 


PLATE  I. 

FIGURE  i.  The  left  side  of  an  oyster  lying  in  one 
shell,  with  the  other  shell  removed.  The  mantle  has 
been  turned  back  a  little,  to  show  its  fringe  of  dark- 
colored  tentacles,  and  in  order  to  expose  the  gills. 
The  part  of  the  mantle  which  is  turned  back  in  this 
figure  marks  the  place  where  the  current  of  water 
flows  in  to  the  gills. 

FIGURE  2.  An  oyster  in  the  left  shell,  with  the  right 
shell  and  right  fold  of  the  mantle  removed,  to  show 
the  gills  and  the  body  of  the  oyster. 

a  is  the  hinge,  b  is  the  edge  of  the  mantle,  c  is  the 
muscle,  d  is  the  pericardium,  f  is  the  hinge  ligament, 
g  the  gills,  h  the  lips. 


THE   OVSTER 


PLATE  I 


A.HoEti  X  Cn.LithDcaustic,BaHimnrE. 


THE  OYSTER.  2Q 

from  locomotor  ancestors.  There  are  many  other 
proofs  that  this  has  been  its  history,  and  that  it  has,  in 
comparatively  modern  times,  learned  to  fasten  itself  to 
rocks  above  the  soft  mud  of  our  bays  and  estuaries, 
in  order  to  avail  itself  of  the  rich  vegetation  ;  that  it 
has  lost  its  symmetry  in  order  to  fit  it  for  this  mode 
of  life.  The  oyster  is  a  very  ancient  animal,  and  its 
sedentary  habits  belong  to  the  more  modern  part  of 
its  history;  although  this  change  took  place  very  long 
ago,  so  far  as  human  chronology  goes,  and  fossil 
oysters  are  found  in  many  parts  of  the  world. 

In  order  to  understand  the  anatomy  of  the  oyster,  a 
clear  conception  of  the  structure  and  significance  of 
its  gill  is  most  important.  In  all  the  bivalve  mol- 
luscs the  gills  are  very  complicated,  and  they  domi- 
nate over  the  whole  structure  of  the  body  in  such  a 
way  that  an  anatomical  sketch  of  the  animal  is  of 
necessity  little  more  than  an  account  of  the  gills.  A 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  oyster-gill  will  not  only 
throw  light  on  the  purpose  and  use  of  all  its  other 
organs  :  it  will  at' the  same  time  help  us  to  understand 
the  great  value  of  the  animal  as  a  means  for  making 
the  microscopic  inhabitants  of  our  waters  useful,  and 
it  will  also  show  how  well  it  is  adapted  for  culti- 
vation, and  why  it  is  impossible  for  natural  oysters  to 
stock  the  whole  bay  without  aid  from  man. 

The  labor  which  is  necessary  before  we  can  have  a 
clear,  accurate  picture  of  them,  of  their  complicated 
structure,  their  relation  to  other  parts  of  the  body, 
their  use  and  their  origin,  is  considerable,  but  it  is 
well  worth  while,  for  the  gills  give  us  the  key  to  the 
whole  significance  of  the  oyster;  but  this  requires 


30  THE   OYSTER. 

close  attention  to  all  the  details  of  a  long,  complicated 
and  minute  description,  which  from  the  nature  of  the 
case  cannot  be  stated  briefly,  although  it  may  all  be 
put  in  simple  language. 

A  gill  is,  of  course,  a  breathing  organ,  for  aerating 
the  blood  by  exposing  it  to  the  oxygen  in  the  water ; 
and  the  oyster  has  a  heart,  for  driving  to  the  various 
organs  of  the  body  the  blood  which  has  been  purified 
in  the  gills.  It  is  easy  to  see  and  study  the  oyster's 
heart,  but  in  order  to  do  so  the  animal  must  be 
opened  with  great  care,  by  cutting  the  muscle  with  a 
thin  sharp  blade,  as  near  the  shell  as  possible.  If  this 
is  done,  a  small  semi-transparent  space  \vill  be  seen 
close  to  the  inner  edge  of  the  muscle.  The  thin  mem- 
brane which  covers  the  space  is  the  pericardium,  or 
the  chamber  which  holds  the  heart,  Plate  I,  d,  and 
through  its  transparent  wall  this  may  be  seen  slowly 
pulsating,  for  an  oyster  is  not  killed  by  opening  its 
shell,  and  its  heart  continues  to  beat  for  hours,  or, 
under  favorable  conditions,  for  days.  If  the  pericar- 
dium be  gently  lifted  and  cut  with  sharp  scissors, 
the  heart,  Plate  II,  d,  with  its  blood-vessels,  will  be 
exposed.  It  consists  of  two  chambers,  the  auricle, 
which  receives  the  pure  blood  from  the  gills,  and 
a  ventricle,  which  drives  it  through  arteries  to  the 
various  organs  of  the  body. 

While  the  gill  of  an  oyster  is  a  breathing  organ, 
like  the  gill  of  a  fish  or  crab  or  conch,  this  is  only  one 
of  its  many  uses.  The  fish  and  the  crab  and  the  conch 
have  other  organs  for  supplying  the  gills  with  a  stream 
of  fresh  water,  but  the  gills  of  the  oyster,  besides  puri- 
fying the  blood,  keep  up  a  circulation  of  water  for 


THE   OYSTER.  31 

themselves.  They  are  also  organs  for  gathering  up 
food  from  the  water,  and  after  it  has  been  gathered 
they  become  organs  for  carrying  it  to  the  mouth. 
They  are  also  reproductive  organs,  adapted  for  secur- 
ing the  fertilization  of  the  eggs,  and  thus  providing  for 
the  propagation  of  the  species.  In  the  European  oyster 
and  in  the  mussel  they  are  also  brood-chambers,  in 
which  the  young  are  held  and  protected  and  nourished 
during  their  early  stages  of  growth,  until  they  are  large 
enough  to  care  for  themselves. 

An  organ  which  is  at  once  a  gill,  a  pump  for  sup- 
plying the  gills  with  water,  a  food-collector,  an  organ 
for  carrying  the  food  into  the  mouth,  a  reproductive 
organ,  and  a  nursing-chamber,  must,  of  course,  be 
complicated.  The  oyster's  gill  does  all  these  things, 
and  does  them  all  well.  It  is  not  a  jack-of-all-trades, 
but  a  machine  which  is  beautifully  adapted  for  carrying 
them  all  on  at  the  same  time,  in  such  a  way  that  each 
use  helps  the  other  uses,  instead  of  hindering  them. 
This  is  the  more  remarkable  since  an  ordinary  mol- 
lusc, such  as  the  conch,  has  distinct  organs  for  all 
these  purposes,  although  the  oyster's  gill  does  every- 
thing just  as  well  and  just  as  readily  as  the  various 
organs  of  the  conch. 

There  are  four  gills  in  the  oyster,  two  on  each  side 
of  the  body.  They  are  long,  flat,  thin,  leaf-like  organs, 
Plates  I  and  II,  g,  placed  side  by  side,  and  nearly 
filling  the  mantle  chamber,  in  which  they  hang. 
Each  gill  is  made  up  of  two  leaves,  so  that  there  are 
in  all  eight  gill-leaves. 

If  you  gum  together  the  ends  of  a  folded  sheet  of 
foolscap  paper,  so  as  to  make  a  flat  pocket,  this,  when 


32  THE    OYSTER. 


PLATE  II. 

An  oyster  in  the  right  valve  of  the  shell,  dissected 
so  as  to  show  the  internal  organs.  The  anterior  end 
of  the  body  is  at  the  top  of  the  figure,  and  the  dorsal 
surface  on  the  right  hand. 

b  the  mantle,  c  the  muscle,  d  the  heart,  g  the  gill, 
h  the  lips,  i  the  intestine,  j  the  liver,  m  the  mouth, 
s  the  stomach. 


THE  OYSTER 


A.HaEnSCd.lith 


THE  OYSTER.  33 

held  vertically,  with  the  opening  above,  will  form  a 
pretty  good  model  of  a  single  gill. 

The  closed  portions  of  the  four  gills  hang  down 
into  the  mantle-chamber,  side  by  side,  but  their  upper 
edges  are  fastened  to  each  other,  and  to  the  inside  of 
the  mantle,  in  such  a  way  that  they  form  a  folded  par- 
tition, something  like  a  double  W,  which  divides 
the  mantle-chamber  into  two  parts  :  a  lower  chamber, 
in  which  the  gills  hang,  known  as  the  gill-chamber, 
and  an  upper  chamber,  into  which  the  pockets  open. 
This  chamber  is  known  as  the  cloaca,  the  Latin  word 
for  a  sewer,  or  channel  for  waste  water,  and  I  hope  to 
show  you  the  fitness  of  the  name  soon. 

The  partition  between  the  two  chambers  is  formed 
somewhat  in  this  way.  The  upper  edge,  of  the  outer 
leaf  of  the  outer  gill  is  united,  along  its  whole  length, 
to  the  inner  surface  of  the  mantle.  The  upper  edge  of 
the  inner  leaf  of  the  outer  gill  is  united  to  the  same 
edge  of  the  outer  leaf  of  the  inner  gill.  The  upper 
edges  of  the  inner  leaves  of  the  two  inner  gills  are 
united  to  each  other  on  the  middle  line  of  the  body. 

If  you  were  to  make  four  pockets  out  of  four  sheets 
of  paper,  and  were  then  to  gum  two  of  them  together 
along  their  free  edges,  you  would  make  a  double 
pocket,  which  might  be  opened  out  so  that  a  section 
through  it  would  be  like  a  W.  This  would  serve  as 
a  model  of  the  two  gills  on  one  side  of  the  body,  and 
two  more  sheets,  treated  in  the  same  way,  would 
make  a  model  of  the  other  two  gills.  Now  gum  two 
W's  together,  side  by  side,  and  the  double  W  will  be 
a  model  of  the  four  gills.  Now  open  a  very  large 
book-cover,  just  far  enough  to  gum  the  upper  outer 


34  THE   OYSTER. 

edge  of  one  W  to  the  inside  of  one  cover,  and  the 
opposite  edge  of  the  other  W  to  the  other,  and  you 
will  have  a  rough  model  of  the  coarse  anatomy  of  the 
oyster's  gills,  like  the  diagram  in  Fig.  i  of  Plate  III. 
The  space  between  the  covers  is  the  mantle-chamber, 
divided  by  the  gills  into  a  lower  portion  or  gill-cham- 
ber, in  which  the  gills  hang,  and  an  upper  cloacal 
chamber,  into  which  the  pockets  open. 

So  far  I  have  spoken  of  the  gills  as  if  the  pockets 
reached,  without  interruption,  from  end  to  end,  but 
this  is  not  the  case.  Each  pocket  is  divided  up,  by  a 
series  of  vertical  partitions,  into  a  number  of  small 
cavities— the  water  tubes,  each  of  which  ends  blindly 
below,  and  opens  above  into  the  cloaca. 

To  represent  them  in  our  model  we  must  gum  the 
two  leaves  of  each  pocket  together  from  top  to  bot- 
tom along  a  series  of  vertical  lines  about  an  inch 
apart.  Our  model  is  very  much  larger  than  the  actual 
gill,  of  course. 

The  spaces  between  the  partitions  which  are  thus 
formed  will  represent  the  water  tubes,  w,  in  Figs.  I 
and  3  of  Plate  III,  closed  below  and  opening  above 
into  the  cloaca,  and  our  model  will  now  illustrate  the 
anatomy  of  the  gill,  so  far  as  it  can  be  made  out 
without  a  microscope. 

I  must  now  speak  of  the  minute  anatomy.  If  a 
small  piece  of  one  of  the  gills  be  cut  out,  and  spread 
flat  upon  a  glass  slide  so  that  its  surface  may  be 
examined  under  a  microscope,  it  will  be  found  to  be 
thickly  covered  with  parallel  ridges  running  from  top 
to  bottom,  like  the  lines  on  the  sheet  of  paper,  each 
ridge  being  separated  from  the  next  one  by  a  deep 


THE  OYSTER.  35 

furrow.  Fig.  3  of  Plate  III  is  a  greatly  magnified 
drawing  of  a  cross-section  of  a  small  part  of  a  gill, 
including  one  water  tube,  w,  and  the  partitions  ay  ay 
between  it  and  the  adjacent  tubes ;  r,  r,  r  are  the 
ridges,  and  /,  p  water  pores.  In  the  bottoms  of  the 
furrows  there  are  many  minute  openings — the  water 
pores,  which  pass  through  the  wall  of  the  gill  into 
the  water  tubes,  and  thus  form  the  channels  of  com- 
munication between  the  two  divisions  of  the  mantle- 
chamber. 

The  ridges  themselves  are  hollow,  or,  rather,  each 
one  contains  a  minute  blood-vessel,  which  runs 
throughout  its  entire  length,  so  that  each  wall  of  each 
gill  is  practically  a  grating  of  parallel,  vertical  blood- 
vessels, in  which  the  blood  is  purified  by  contact  with 
the  water  which  fills  the  gills  and  the  chamber  in 
which  they  hang.  The  purified  blood  is  then  forced 
into  larger  vessels,  which  carry  it  to  the  heart,  by 
which  it  is  pumped  to  all  parts  of  the  body,  to  be 
again  returned  to  the  gills  after  it  has  become  impure. 

The  gills  are  therefore  easily  intelligible,  so  far  as 
they  are  simply  organs  of  respiration ;  they  hang  in 
the  water  which  fills  the  mantle-chamber,  and  their 
walls  are  filled  with  blood-vessels  in  which  the  blood 
comes  into  close  contact  with  the  water. 

The  way  in  which  the  current  of  fresh  water  is  kept 
up  to  bathe  the  gills  continually  with  a  new  supply  is 
more  complicated. 

When  one  of  the  ridges  on  the  surface  of  the  gill  is 
examined  with  a  high  power  of  the  microscope,  it  is 
found  to  be  fringed  on  each  side  by  a  row  of  fine 
hairs,  Plate  III,  Fig.  2,  c,  c,  each  one  less  than  jfa  inch 


36  THE  OYSTER. 

long,  and  so  fine  that  they  are  invisible  under  a  low 
magnifying  power.  They  project  from  the  sides  of  the 
ridges,  over  the  furrows  between  them,  and  therefore 
overhang  the  water  pores  in  the  bottoms  of  the  furrows. 

In  a  fragment  cut  from  a  fresh  gill,  each  one  of  these 
hairs  is  constantly  swaying  back  and  forth,  with  a 
motion  like  that  of  an  oar  in  rowing,  quick  and  strong 
one  way,  and  slower  the  other  way.  They  all  move  in 
time,  but  they  do  not  keep  stroke,  for  each  one  comes 
to  rest  an  instant  before  the  one  on  one  side  of  it,  and  an 
instant  after  the  one  on  the  other  side.  So  that  waves 
of  motion  are  continually  running  from  one  end  of 
each  ridge  to  the  other,  like  the  waves  which  you  have 
seen  running  over  a  field  of  ripe  grain,  as  each  stalk 
bends  before  the  wind  and  then  recovers. 

What  would  happen  if  a  boat's  crew  were  to  row 
with  all  their  strength,  with  the  boat  tied  to  a  wharf? 
As  they  could  not  pull  the  boat  through  the  water, 
they  would  push  the  water  past  the  boat.  This  is 
exactly  what  the  cilia  do.  They  set  up  a  current  in 
the  water.  Each  one  is  so  small  that  its  individual 
effect  is  inconceivably  minute,  but  the  innumerable 
multitude  causes  a  vigorous  circulation,  and  each  one 
is  set  in  such  a  position  that  it  drives  the  water  before 
it  from  the  gill-chamber  into  one  of  the  water  pores, 
and  so  into  one  of  the  water  tubes  inside  the  gill ; 
and  as  these  are  filled  they  overflow  into  the  cloaca 
and  fill  that.  If  the  mantle  were  closed,  all  the  water 
would  soon  be  pumped  out  of  the  gill-chamber  into 
the  cloaca,  but  you  remember  that  an  oyster  at  rest 
always  has  the  mantle  open.  As  fast  as  the  gill-chamber 
is  emptied  by  the  cilia,  fresh  water  streams  in  from 


THE  OYSTER.  37 

outside,  to  be,  in  its  turn,  driven  through  the  water 
pores  into  the  water  tubes,  and  through  them  into  the 
cloaca,  where  it  is  driven  out  between  the  open  shells 
and  away  from  the  oyster. 

So  much  for  the  gills  as  organs  for  maintaining  a 
current  of  water.  We  come  now  to  the  way  in  which 
they  procure  food. 

The  food  of  the  oyster  consists  of  microscopic  organ- 
isms, minute  animals  and  plants,  which  swim  in  the 
water.  They  are  pretty  abundant  in  all  water,  but 
those  who  do  not  work  with  the  microscope  have  very 
erroneous  ideas  on  the  subject.  When  a  professional 
exhibitor  shows  you,  under  the  microscope,  what  he 
calls  a  drop  of  pure  water,  it  is  nothing  of  the  sort. 
It  is  either  a  collection  made  by  filtering  several  barrels 
of  water,  or  else,  it  is  a  drop  squeezed  from  a  piece  of 
decayed  moss,  or  from  some  other  substance  in  which 
they  have  lived  and  multiplied. 

Sea  water  is  like  fresh  water  in  this  respect,  and  an 
oyster  must  strain  many  gallons  of  water  to  get  its 
daily  bread;  but  the  gills,  with  their  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  microscopic  water  pores,  are  most  efficient 
strainers. 

The  surface  of  the  gills  is  covered  by  an  adhesive 
excretion,  for  entangling  the  microscopic  organisms 
contained  in  the  water,  and  as  this  circulates  over  and 
through  the  gills,  they  stick  fast  like  flies  on  fly-paper. 
The  cilia  which  drive  the  water  through  the  gills,  push 
the  slime,  with  the  food  which  has  become  entangled 
in  it,  towards  the  mouth,  which  is  well  up  towards  the 
hinge ;  for  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  what  the 
oystermen  call  the  mouth  is  only  the  opening  between 
the  halves  of  the  mantle. 


38  THE  OYSTER. 

On  each  side  of  the  mouth,  Plate  II,  my  there  is  a 
pair  of  fleshy  organs,  Plates  I  and  II,  w,  called  the 
lips,  although  they  are  more  like  mustaches  than  lips, 
for  they  hang  down  on  each  side  of  the  mouth.  One 
on  the  right  is  joined  to  one  on  the  left,  above  the 
mouth,  while  the  other  two  are  joined  below  it,  so  that 
the  mouth  itself  lies  in  a  deep  groove  or  slit  between 
the  lips. 

The  ends  of  the  gills  fit  into  this  groove,  and  as  the 
cilia  slide  the  food  forward,  it  slips  at  last  between  the 
lips  and  slides  into  the  mouth,  which  is  always  open. 
As  this  process  is  going  on  whenever  the  oyster  is 
breathing,  the  supply  of  food  is  continuous,  and  while 
it  consists,  for  the  most  part,  of  invisible  organisms, 
the  oyster's  stomach  is  usually  well  filled.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  describe  the  oyster's  stomach  and  intes- 
tine, and  dark-colored  liver,  as  these  will  be  under- 
stood from  the  figure.  The  chief  purpose  of  this 
anatomical  sketch  is  to  show  the  wonderful  way  in 
which  the  gills  of  the  oyster  fit  it  for  gathering  up  the 
microscopic  life  of  our  bay,  and  for  turning  it  into 
valuable  human  food.  Looked  at  from  this  point  of 
view,  the  minute  anatomy  of  the  animal  becomes  emi- 
nently practical,  as  it  enables  us  to  understand  its  true 
relation  to  man. 

In  view  of  the  very  exceptional  fertility  of  the  bay, 
and  its  boundless  capacity  for  producing  microscopic 
vegetation,  the  immense  importance  of  an  animated 
strainer  perfectly  adapted  for  filtering  very  great 
quantities  of  water,  for  gathering  up  the  microscopic 
life  which  it  contains,  for  digesting  and  assimilating 
it,  and  for  converting  it  into  food  of  the  most  attractive 


THE   OYSTER.  39 

and  nutritious  character,  cannot  be  overestimated;  but 
after  we  have  studied  the  embryology  of  the  oyster, 
we  shall  understand  why  the  natural  oysters  alone 
can  never  utilize  all  the'  resources  of  our  waters. 
We  shall  see  why  it  is  that  the  oyster  is  so  well  fitted 
for  domestication  and  cultivation,  and  why  the  culti- 
vation of  oysters  will  render  the  Chesapeake  Bay  in- 
comparably more  valuable  than  it  has  ever  been,  even 
before  our  natural  beds  began  to  deteriorate. 


40  THE  OYSTER. 


PLATE  III. 

(Drawn  by  J.  L.  KELLOGG.) 

FIGURE  i.  A  diagram  to  show  the  double-w-like 
arrangement  of  the  eight  leaves  forming  the  four  gills. 
The  gill-chamber  of  the  mantle  is  supposed  to  be  on 
the  right  and  the  cloacal  chamber  on  the  left,  w  is 
the  opening  of  a  water  tube. 

FIGURE  2.  A  very  highly  magnified  view  of  a  cross- 
section  of  two  of  the  gill  ridges,  to  show  the  blood 
channels,  and  the  gill-cilia  c,  c. 

FIGURE  3.  A  highly  magnified  cross-section  of  part 
of  a  gill,  including  one  water  tube,  w,  and  the  parti- 
tions, a,  a,  between  it  and  the  adjacent  tubes,  r,  r,  r  the 
ridges,/,/  the  water  pores. 


THE   OVSTER 


PLATE  III 


[,Ai&i.y 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   OYSTER. 

The  body  of  an  oyster  is  not  a  simple,  unorganized 
lump  of  flesh,  but  a  complicated  organism,  made  up 
of  many  parts,  each  one  so  related  to  the  other  parts 
that  we  must  study  the  whole  animal  before  we  can 
understand  the  admirable  adjustment  of  each  organ  to 
its  use. 

The  oyster  is  unintelligible  until  we  have  studied 
the  organs  which  compose  it,  and  the  organs  them- 
selves are  unintelligible  unless  they  are  studied  as 
constituent  parts  of  the  whole. 

The  oyster  is  a  unit,  a  complete  individual  whole, 
made  up  of  units  of  a  lower  order,  the  organs,  in 
somewhat  the  same  way  that  a  regiment  of  soldiers  is 
a  unit,  made  up  of  units  of  a  lower  order,  the  com- 
panies. 

A  description  of  the  organs  of  the  oyster  does  not, 
however,  by  any  means  complete  the  analysis  of  its 
body,  for  when  any  part  is  studied  under  a  micro- 
scope, after  it  has  been  properly  prepared,  it  is  found 
to  be  made  up  of  units  of  a  still  lower  order,  just  as 
each  company  is  made  up  of  individual  soldiers,  or 
as  the  ten  dimes  which  make  a  dollar  are  themselves 
made  up  of  cents. 


42  THE   OYSTEK. 

Every  part  consists  of  cells,  which  are  united  into 
organs,  in  nearly  the  same  way  that  these  are  united 
to  form  the  oyster;  and  in  order  that  what  I  shall  say 
about  its  development  from  the  egg  may  be  intelligible, 
this  fact  must  be  held  clearly  in  mind. 

Each  cell  is  a  minute  portion  of  living  matter,  with 
an  individuality  of  its  own,  like  the  individualities  of 
the  soldiers  which  form  the  regiment. 

The  properties  of  each  organ  are  due,  in  part,  to  the 
way  in  which  the  cells  are  arranged,  and  in  part  to  the 
properties  of  the  cells  themselves,  for  the  cells  which 
enter  into  one  organ  may  be  quite  different  from  those 
which  enter  into  another. 

Each  of  the  cells  which  form  the  glandular  surface 
of  the  mantle  is  itself  a  gland,  and  is  quite  different 
from  a  muscle  cell,  so  that,  in  a  certain  sense,  the 
activity  of  the  mantle  in  forming  the  shell  is  the  sum 
of  the  activities  of  its  cells,  just  as  the  evolutions  of  a 
regiment  are  the  sum  of  the  actions  of  the  soldiers, 
but  a  regiment  can  do  many  things  which  would  be 
beyond  the  power  of  an  unorganized  mob,  and  the 
formation  of  the  shell  is  due  to  the  activity  of  the 
mantle  as  a  whole. 

In  an  adult  oyster  we  have  gland  cells  in  the  mantle, 
muscle  cells  in  the  muscles,  nerve  cells  in  the  nervous 
system,  ciliated  cells  in  the  gills,  and  so  on;  but  if  we 
study  the  animal  at  earlier  and  earlier  stages,  we  find 
that  these  distinctions  disappear,  until,  in  ultimate 
analysis,  all  the  cells  are  alike  so  far  as  the  micro- 
scope can  tell  us. 

They  are  simply  minute,  definitely  limited  masses  of 
living  matter,  with  the  power  to  grow  when  furnished 


THE  OYSTER.  43 

with  food  ;  and  after  their  size  has  thus  increased,  they 
have  the  power  to  multiply  by  splitting  up  into  smaller 
and  more  numerous  cells,  which  in  their  turn  grow 
and  multiply  in  the  same  way. 

They  at  first  exhibit  no  traces  whatever  of  the  uses 
to  which  they  are  to  be  put,  but  as  they  grow  older 
they  gradually  become  specialized  in  various  direc- 
tions and  are  built  up  into  the  tissues  and  organs  of 
the  body,  losing  at  the  same  time  their  sharp  dis- 
tinctness and  fusing  with  each  other. 

Just  as  certain  cells  become  gland  cells,  others 
muscle  cells,  and  so  on,  certain  cells  of  the  adult 
body  become  set  apart  as  reproductive  cells,  eggs  in 
the  female  and  male  cells  in  the  male. 

The  egg  cells  grow  until  they  become  very  much 
larger  than  any  of  the  ordinary  cells  of  the  body;  at 
the  same  time  their  outlines  become  sharply  defined, 
and  they  become  dark-colored  and  granular.  The 
granular  appearance  is  due  to  the  fact  that  as  they 
approach  maturity  they  become  filled  with  food,  which 
is  stored  away  in  them  as  a  provision  for  the  time 
when  they  are  to  be  cast  off  from  the  body  of  the 
oyster,  to  lead  an  independent  existence. 

The  male  cells  are  very  much  smaller  than  the  eggs, 
they  contain  little  food,  and  when  they  are  mature 
each  of  them  is  furnished  with  a  long  cilium  or  vibra- 
ting hair,  by  means  of  which  the  cell  is  able  to  swim 
in  the  water,  while  the  egg  is  motionless  and  sinks  to 
the  bottom  as  soon  as  it  is  set  free. 

When  the  reproductive  elements  are  fully  ripe  they 
are  discharged  from  the  body  into  the  cloacal  chamber 
of  the  mantle.  The  male  cells  are  swept  out  into  the 


44  THE  OYSTER. 

ocean  by  the  current  produced  by  the  gill  cilia.  As 
they  contain  no  food  supply,  their  power  to  live  inde- 
pendently is  very  limited,  and  all  soon  die  except 
those  which  come  into  contact  with  eggs. 

In  the  American  oyster  the  eggs  are  swept  out  into 
the  water  in  the  same  way.  The  eggs  of  the  European 
oyster  are  much  larger  and  heavier,  and  they  fall  into 
the  water  tubes  of  the  gills  and  lodge  there.  Here 
they  are  exposed  to  the  current  of  water  which  circu- 
lates through  the  gills,  and  this  current  brings  with  it 
some  of  the  male  cells  which  swim  in  the  water  around 
the  oyster-bed.  As  soon  as  one  of  them  comes  into 
contact  with  an  egg  it  fuses  with  it  and  loses  its 
individuality  and  is  lost  in  the  substance  of  the  egg, 
which  is  thus  fertilized  and  at  once  begins  its  develop- 
ment into  a  new  oyster. 

There  is  no  such  provision  for  securing  the  fertili- 
zation of  the  eggs  of  the  American  oyster.  They  are 
thrown  out  into  the  water,  like  the  male  cells,  to  be 
fertilized  by  accident,  and  while  many  of  them  meet 
with  male  cells,  innumerable  multitudes  sink  to  the 
bottom  and  are  lost.  It  is.  fortunate  for  other  animals 
that  this  is  the  case,  for  our  oyster  is  so  prolific  that 
if  all  the  eggs  were  to  be  fertilized  and  were  to  live 
and  to  grow  to  maturity,  they  would  fill  up  the  entire 
bay  in  a  single  season.  Far  from  being  an  exaggera- 
tion, this  statement  is  much  short  of  the  truth.  An 
average  Maryland  oyster  of  good  size  lays  about  six- 
teen million  eggs,  and  if  half  of  these  were  to  develop 
into  female  oysters,  we  should  have,  from  a  single 
female,  eight  million  female  descendants  in  the  first 
generation,  and  in  the  second,  eight  million  times 
eight  million  or  64,000,000,000,000. 


THE  OYSTER.  45 

In  the  third  generation  we  should  have  eight  million 
times  this  or  512,000,000,000,000,000,000. 

In  the  fourth,  4,096,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. 

In  the  fifth,  3,3 ,opo,ooo,ooo ,000,000,000,000,000,000,- 
000,000  female  oysters,  and  as  many  males,  or,  in  all, 
66,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. 

Now,  if  each  oyster  fill  eight  cubic  inches  of  space, 
it  would  take  8,ooo,ODO,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,- 
000,000  to  make  a  mass  as  large  as  the  earth,  and  the 
fifth  generation  of  descendants  from  a  single  female 
oyster  would  make  more  than  eight  worlds,  even  if 
each  female  laid  only  one  brood  of  eggs.  As  the 
oyster  lives  for  many  years,  and  lays  eggs  each  year, 
the  possible  rate  of  increase  is  very  much  greater  than 
that  shown  by  the  figufes. 

The  waste  of  oyster  eggs  through  lack  of  fertiliza- 
tion is  simply  inconceivable,  but  it  is  possible  to  fer- 
tilize them  artificially  by  mixing  the  eggs  and  the 
male  cells  in  a  small  quantity  of  water,  where  they  are 
certain  to  come  into  contact  with  each  other.  In  this 
way  about  98  per  cent  of  the  eggs  may  be  saved  and 
made  to  produce  young  oysters,  and  I  have  had  at 
one  time  in  a  small  tumbler  of  water  a  number  of 
active  and  healthy  oysters,  greater,  many  times,  than 
the  whole  human  population  of  Maryland. 

If  several  oysters  are  opened  during  the  breeding 
season,  which  varies  according  to  locality  and  climate, 
as  will  hereafter  be  shown,  a  few  will  be  found  with 
the  reproductive  organ  greatly  distended  and  of  a 
uniform  opaque-white  color.  These  are  oysters  which 
are  spawning  or  ready  to  spawn,  that  is,  to  discharge 
their  eggs.  Sometimes  the  ovaries  are  so  gorged 


46  THE  OYSTER. 

that  the  ripe  eggs  ooze  from  the  openings  of  the 
oviducts  before  the  mass  is  quite  at  the  point  of 
being  discharged.  If  the  point  of  a  knife  be  pushed 
into  the  swollen  ovary,  a  milk  white  fluid  will  flow 
out  of  the  cut.  Mixing  a  little  of  this  with  sea  water, 
and  placing  it  on  a  slide  underneath  a  cover,  a  lens  of 
100  diameters  will  show,  if  the  specimen  is  a  female, 
that  the  white  fluid  is  almost  entirely  made  up  of 
irregular,  pear-shaped,  ovarian  eggs,  each  of  which 
contains  a  large,  circular,  transparent,  germinative 
vesicle,  surrounded  by  a  layer  of  a  granular,  slightly 
opaque  yolk.  Perfectly  ripe  eggs  will  be  seen  to  be 
clean,  sharply  defined,  and  separate  from  each  other. 
If  the  specimen  be  male,  a  glance  through  the  micro- 
scope shows  something  quite  different  from  the  fluid 
of  a  female.  There  are  no  large  bodies  like  the  eggs, 
but  the  fluid  is  filled  with  innumerable  numbers  of 
minute  granules,  which  are  so  small  that  they  are 
barely  visible  when  magnified  100  diameters.  They 
are  not  uniformly  distributed,  but  are  much  more 
numerous  at  some  points  than  at  others,  and  for  this 
reason  the  fluid  has  a  cloudy  or  curdled  appearance. 
By  selecting  a  place  where  the  granules  are  few  and 
pretty  well  scattered,  very  careful  watching  will  show 
that  each  of  them  has  a  lively,  dancing  motion,  and 
examination  with  a  power  of  500  diameters  will  sho'w 
that  each  of  them  is  tadpole-shaped,  and  consists  of  a 
small,  oval,  sharply  defined  "  head,"  and  a  long,  deli- 
cate "  tail,"  by  the  lashing  of  which  the  dancing  is  pro- 
duced. These  are  the  male  cells,  whose  union  with 
the  eggs  or  ova  of  the  female  is  necessary  to  the  fer- 
tilization of  the  latter,  and  the  consequent  hatching  of 
living  oysters. 


THE  OYSTER.  47 

The  number  of  male  cells  which  a  single  male  will 
yield  is  great  beyond  all  power  of  expression,  but  the 
number  of  eggs  which  an  average  female  will  furnish 
may  be  estimated  with  sufficient  exactness.  An  un- 
usually large  American  oyster  will  yield  nearly  a 
cubic  inch  of  eggs,  and  if  these  were  all  in  absolute 
contact  with  each  other,  and  there  were  no  portions  of 
the  ovaries  or  other  organs  mixed  with  them,  the 
cubic  inch  would  contain  5OO8,  or  125,000,000.  Di- 
viding this  by  two,  to  allow  for  foreign  matter,  inter- 
spaces and  errors  of  measurement,  we  have  about 
60,000,000  as  the  possible  number  of  eggs  from  a 
single  very  large  oyster. 

I  have  shown  that,  by  mixing  eggs  extracted  from 
a  female  with  male  cells,  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  secure 
their  union  in  a  watch  crystal  or  in  a  glass  beaker. 

The  body  of  the  oyster,  like  that  of  all  animals, 
except  the  very  simplest,  is  made  up  of  organs,  such 
as  the  heart,  digestive  organs,  gills  and  reproductive 
organs,  and  these  organs  are  at  some  period  in  the 
life  of  the  oyster  made  up  of  microscopic  cells.  Each 
of  these  consists  of  a  layer  of  protoplasm  around  a 
central  nucleus,  which,  in  the  egg,  is  a  large,  cir- 
cular, transparent  body,  known  as  the  germinative 
vesicle.  Each  cell  of  the  body  is  able  to  absorb  food, 
to  grow,  and  to  multiply  by  division,  and  thus  to  con- 
tribute to  the  growth  of  the  organ  of  which  it  forms  a 
part.  The  ovarian  eggs  are  simply  the  cells  of  an 
organ  of  the  body,  the  ovary,  and,  so  far  as  the  micro- 
scope shows,  they  differ  from  the  ordinary  cells  only 
in  being  much  larger  and  more  distinct  from  each 
other;  and  they  have  the  power,  when  detached  from 


48  THE  OYSTER. 

the  body,  of  growing  and  dividing  up  into  cells,  which 
shall  shape  themselves  into  a  new  organism  like  that 
from  whose  body  the  egg  came.  Most  of  the  steps 
in  this  wonderful  process  may  be  watched  under  the 
microscope,  and,  owing  to  the  ease  with  which  the 
eggs  of  the  oyster  may  be  obtained,  this  is  a  very 
good  egg  to  study. 

About  fifteen  minutes  after  the  eggs  are  fertilized, 
Plate  IV,  Fig.  I,  they  will  be  found  to  be  covered 
with  male  cells.  In  about  an  hour  the  egg  will  be 
found  to  have  changed  its  shape  and  appearance.  It 
is  now  nearly  spherical,  and  the  germinative  vesicle  is 
no  longer  visible.  The  male  cells  may  or  may  not 
still  be  visible  upon  the  outer  surface.  In  a  short 
time  a  little  transparent  point  makes  its  appearance 
on  the  "surface  of  the  egg,  increases  in  size,  and  soon 
forms  a  little,  projecting,  transparent  knob — the  polar 
globule. 

Recent  investigations  tend  to  show  that  while  these 
changes  are  taking  place,  one  of  the  male  cells  pene- 
trates the  protoplasm  of  the  egg  and  unites  with  the 
germinative  vesicle,  which  does  not  disappear,  but 
divides  into  two  parts,  one  of  which  is  pushed  out  of 
the  egg  and  becomes  the  polar  globule,  while  the 
other  remains  behind  and  becomes  the  nucleus  of  the 
developing  egg,  but  changes  its  appearance  so  that  it 
is  no  longer  conspicuous.  The  egg  now  becomes 
pear-shaped,  with  the  polar  globule  at  the  broad  end 
of  the  pear,  and  this  end  soon  divides  into  two  parts, 
so  that  the  egg  is  now  made  of  one  large  mass  and 
two  slightly  smaller  ones,  with  the  polar  globule 
between  them.  Plate  IV,  Fig.  2. 


THE  OYSTEK.  49 

The  later  history  of  the  egg  shows  that  at  this  early 
stage  it  is  not  perfectly  homogeneous,  but  that  the 
protoplasm  which  is  to  give  rise  to  certain  organs 
of  the  body  has  separated  from  that  which  is  to  give 
rise  to  others. 

If  the  egg  were  split  vertically  we  should  have  what 
is  to  become  one  half  of  the  body  in  one  part  and  the 
other  half  in  the  other.  The  single  spherule  at  the 
small  end  of  the  pear  is  to  give  rise  to  the  cells  of 
the  digestive  tract  of  the  adult,  and  to  those  organs 
which  are  to  be  derived  from  it,  while  the  two  spheres 
at  the  large  end  are  to  form  the  cells  of  the  outer  wall 
of  the  body  and  the  organs  which  are  derived  from  it, 
such  as  the  gills,  the  lips  and  the  mantle,  and  they  are 
also  to  give  rise  to  the  shell.  The  upper  portion  of  the 
egg  soon  divides  up  into  smaller  and  smaller  spherules, 
Plate  IV,  Figs.  3,  4,  5,  until  we  have  a  layer  of  small 
cells  wrapped  around  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  of 
a  single  large  spherule.  This  spherule  now  divides 
up  into  a  layer  of  cells,  and  at  the  same  time  the  egg, 
or  rather  the  embryo,  becomes  flattened  from  above 
downward,  and  assumes  the  shape  of  a  flat,  oval  disk. 
In  a  sectional  view  it  is  seen  to  be  made  up  of  two 
layers  of  cells ;  an  upper  layer  of  small  transparent 
cells,  which  are  to  form  the  outer  wall  of  the  body, 
and  which  have  been  formed  by  the  division  of  the 
spherules  which  occupy  the  upper  end  of  the  egg,  and 
a  lower  layer  of  much  larger,  more  opaque  cells,  which 
are  to  become  the  walls  of  the  stomach,  and  which  have 
been  formed  by  the  division  of  the  large  spherule. 

This  layer  is  seen  in  the  section  to  be  pushed  in  a 
little  toward  the  upper  layer,  so  that  the  lower  surface 


50  THE  OYSTER. 

of  the  disk-shaped  embryo  is  not  flat,  but  very  slightly 
concave.  This  concavity  is  destined  to  grow  deeper 
until  its  edges  almost  meet,  and  it  is  the  rudimentary 
digestive  cavity.  A  very  short  time  after  this  stage 
has  been  reached,  and  usually  within  from  two  to  four 
hours  after  the  eggs  were  fertilized,  the  embryo  under- 
goes a  great  change  of  shape.  Plate  IV,  Fig.  6. 

A  circular  tuft  of  long  hairs,  or  cilia,  now  makes 
its  appearance  at  what  is  thus  marked  as  the  anterior 
end  of  the  body,  and  as  soon  as  these  hairs  are  formed 
they  begin  to  swing  backward  and  forward  in  such  a 
way  as  to  constitute  a  swimming  organ,  which  rows 
the  little  animal  up  from  the  bottom  to  the  surface  of 
the  water,  where  it  swims  around  very  actively  by  the 
aid  of  its  cilia.  This  stage  of  development,  which  is 
of  short  duration,  is  of  great  importance  in  rearing  the 
young  oysters,  for  it  is  the  time  when  they  can  best  be 
siphoned  off  into  a  separate  vessel  and  freed  from  the 
danger  of  being  killed  by  the  decay  of  any  eggs  which 
may  fail  to  develop.  On  one  surface  of  the  body  at 
this  stage  there  is  a  well-marked  groove,  and  when  a 
specimen  is  found  in  a  proper  position  for  examination, 
the  opening  into  the  digestive  tract  is  found  at  the 
bottom  of  this  groove.  The  embryo  now  consists  of 
a  central  cavity,  the  digestive  cavity,  which  opens 
externally  by  a  small  orifice,  the  primitive  mouth, 
and  which  is  surrounded  at  all  points,  except  at  the 
mouth,  by  a  wall  which  is  distinct  from  the  outer 
wall  of  the  body.  Around  the  primitive  mouth  these 
two  layers  are  continuous  with  each  other. 

This  stage  of  development,  in  which  the  embryo 
consists  of  two  layers,  an  inner  layer  surrounding  a 


THE  OYSTER.  51 

cavity  which  opens  externally  by  a  mouth-like  open- 
ing, and  an  outer  layer  which  is  continuous  with  the 
inner  around  the  margins  of  the  opening,  is  of  very 
frequent  occurrence, and  it  has  been  found,  with  modifi- 
cations, in  the  most  widely  separated  groups  of  animals, 
such  as  the  starfish,  the  oyster,  and  the  frog,  and  some 
representatives  of  all  the  larger  groups  of  animals,  ex- 
cept the  Protozoa,  appear  to  pass  during  their  develop- 
ment through  a  form  which  may  be  regarded  as  a  more 
or  less  considerable  modification  of  that  presented  by 
our  oyster-embryo.  This  stage  of  development  is 
known  as  the  gastrula  stage. 

Certain  full-grown  animals,  such  as  the  fresh-water 
hydra  and  some  sponges,  are  little  more  than  modi- 
fied gastrulas.  The  body  is  a  simple  vase,  with  an 
opening  at  one  end  communicating  with  a  digestive 
cavity,  the  wall  of  which  is  formed  by  a  layer  of  cells, 
which  is  continuous  around  the  opening  with  a  second 
layer,  which  forms  the  outer  wall  of  the  body.  This 
fact,  together  with  the  fact  that  animals  of  the  most 
widely  separated  groups  pass  through  a  gastrula  stage 
of  development,  has  led  certain  naturalists  to  a  gener- 
alization, which  is  known  as  the  "  gastrula  theory." 
This  theory  or  hypothesis  is  that  all  animals,  except  the 
Protozoa,  are  more  or  less  direct  descendants  of  one 
common  but  very  remote  ancestral  form,  whose  body 
consisted  of  a  simple  two-walled  vase,  with  a  central 
digestive  cavity  opening  externally  at  one  end  of  the 
body. 

Soon  a  small,  irregular  plate  makes  its  appearance 
on  each  side  of  the  body.  These  little  plates  are  the 
two  valves  of  the  shell,  and  in  the  oyster  they  are  sepa- 


52  THE   OYSTER. 


PLATE  IV. 

THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE   OYSTER. 

All  the  figures  are  highly  magnified  and  all  except 
Figure  10  are  autograph  reproductions  from  the 
author's  drawings  from  nature.  Figure  10  is  copied 
from  a  figure  by  R.  T.  Jackson  in  the  American 
Naturalist,  December,  1890. 

FIGURE  I.  A  newly  laid  egg  with  the  male  cells 
fastened  to  its  surface. 

FIGURE  2.  Oyster  embryo,  about  two  and  a  half 
hours  old. 

FIGURE  3.  An  embryo  about  fifteen  minutes  older 
than  Figure  2. 

FIGURE  4.  An  embryo  about  fifteen  minutes  older 
than  Figure  3. 

FIGURE  5.  An  embryo  about  twenty  minutes  older 
than  Figure  4. 

FIGURE  6.  An  embryo  about  thirty  hours  old,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  swimming  stage. 

FIGURE  7.  Stage  in  which  the  first  traces  of  the  shell 
make  their  appearance. 

FIGURE  8.  A  swimming  oyster  about  three  days 
old. 

FIGURE  9.  A  swimming  oyster  about  six  days  old. 

FIGURE  10.  An  oyster  which  has  become  attached. 


THE   OYSTER 


PLATE  IV 


A.Hoen  X  Ca.Lith 


THE  OYSTER.  53 

rated  from  each  other  from  the  first,  and  make  their 
appearance  independently. 

Soon  after  they  make  their  appearance  the  embryos 
cease  to  crowd  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  sink  to 
various  depths,  although  they  continue  to  swim  actively 
in  all  directions,  and  may  still  be  found  occasionally 
close  to  the  surface.  The  region  of  the  body  which 
carries  the  cilia  now  becomes  sharply  defined,  as  a 
circular,  projecting  pad,  the  velum,  Figs.  7,  8  and  9, 
and  this  is  present  and  is  the  organ  of  locomotion,  at 
a  much  later  stage  of  development. 

The  two  shells  grow  rapidly  and  soon  become  quite 
regular  in  outline,  but  for  some  time  they  are  much 
smaller  than  the  body,  which  projects  from  between 
their  edges,  around  their  whole  circumference,  except 
along  a  short  area,  the  area  of  the  hinge,  upon  the 
dorsal  surface,  where  the  two  valves  are  in  contact. 

The  two  shells  continue  to  grow  at  their  edges,  and 
soon  become  large  enough  to  cover  up  and  project  a 
little  beyond  the  surface  of  the  body,  and  at  the  same 
time  muscular  fibres,  Fig.  9,  make  their  appearance. 
They  are  so  arranged  that  they  can  draw  the  edge  of  the 
body  and  the  velum  in  between  the  edges  of  the  shell. 
In  this  way  that  surface  of  the  body  which  lines  the 
shell  becomes  converted  into  the  two  lobes  of  the 
mantle,  and  between  them  a  mantle  cavity  is  formed, 
into  which  the  velum  can  be  drawn  when  the  animal 
is  at  rest.  While  these  changes  have  been  going  on 
over  the  outer  surface  of  the  body,  other  important 
internal  modifications  have  taken  place. 

Soon  the  outer  wall  of  the  body  becomes  pushed 
inward,  to  form  the  mouth.  The  digestive  cavity  now 


54  THE  OYSTER. 

becomes  greatly  enlarged,  and  cilia  make  their  appear- 
ance upon  its  walls;  the  mouth  becomes  connected 
with  the  chamber  which  is  thus  formed,  and  which 
becomes  the  stomach,  and  minute  particles  of  food  are 
drawn  in  by  the  cilia,  and  can  now  be  seen  inside  the 
stomach,  where  the  vibration  of  the  cilia  keep  them  in 
constant  motion.  Up  to  this  time  the  animal  has 
developed  without  growing,  and  is  scarcely  larger  than 
the  unfertilized  egg,  but  it  now  begins  to  increase  in 
size. 

Soon  after  the  mouth  has  become  connected  with 
the  stomach  this  becomes  united  to  the  body  wall  at 
another  point  a  little  behind  the  mouth,  and  a  second 
opening,  the  anus,  is  formed.  The  tract  which  connects 
the  anus  with  the  stomach  lengthens  and  forms  the 
intestine,  and,  soon  after,  the  sides  of  the  stomach 
become  folded  off  to  form  the  two  halves  of  the  liver, 
and  various  muscular  fibres  now  make  their  appear- 
ance within  the  body. 

Such  is  the  scientific  history  of  the  oyster-embryo. 
The  practical  utility  of  the  knowledge,  however,  to 
the  most  of  us,  is  that  the  American  oyster  lays  a  vast 
number  of  eggs,  but  that  they  are  exposed  to  dangers 
so  constant  and  innumerable,  that  under  ordinary  con- 
ditions few  ever  come  to  life,  or  at  any  rate  succeed  in 
living  long  enough  to  anchor  themselves  and  take  on 
the  protection  of  shells.  This  is  only  another  exam- 
ple of  a  fact  well  known  to  naturalists.  The  number 
of  eggs  laid,  or  even  of  individuals  born,  has  very  little 
to  do  with  the  abundance  of  a  species,  which  is  de- 
termined, mainly,  by  the  external  conditions  to  which 
it  is  exposed. 


THE  OYSTER.  55 

LIFE  OF  THE  YOUNG  OYSTER. — The  young  Ameri- 
can oyster  leads  a  peculiarly  precarious  life,  since 
it  is  first  thrown  out  an  unfertilized  egg,  and  the 
chance  that  it  will  immediately  meet  with  a  male  cell 
must  be  very  slight;  yet  if  it  does  not  it  will  perish, 
for  the  sea-water  soon  destroys  unimpregnated  eggs. 
Having  by  good  chance  become  fertilized  by  meet- 
ing a  male  cell,  the  next  period  of  great  danger  is 
the  short  time  during  which  the  embryos  swarm  to 
the  surface  of  the  water.  They  are  so  perfectly  de- 
fenseless, and  so  crowded  together  close  to  the  sur- 
face, that  a  small  fish,  swimming  along  with  open 
mouth,  might  easily  swallow,  in  a  few  mouthfuls, 
a  number  equal  to  a  year's  catch.  They  are  also 
exposed  to  the  weather,  and  a  sudden  cold  wind 
or  fall  in  temperature,  such  as  occurred  several 
times  during  our  experiments,  killed  every  embryo. 
The  number  which  are  destroyed  by  cold  rains  and 
winds  must  be  very  great  indeed.  As  soon  as  they 
are  safely  past  this  stage,  and  scatter  and  swim  at 
various  depths,  their  risks  from  accidents  and  enemies 
are  greatly  diminished.  Up  to  this  point,  which  is 
reached  in  from  twenty-four  hours  to  six  days,  there  is 
no  difficulty  in  rearing  them  in  an  aquarium,  provided 
uniform  warm  temperature  be  preserved. 

Although  I  failed  to  keep  the  young  oysters  alive 
until  they  were  large  enough  to  handle  and  plant,  my 
experiments  showed  the  possibility  of  rearing  them  in 
unlimited  numbers,  so  soon  as  some  practical  method 
of  preserving  them  alive  during  their  infancy  should 
be  discovered. 


56  THE  OYSTER. 

The  next  great  step  in  this  direction  is  due  to  Lieut. 
Winslow.  While  I  was  carrying  on  my  experiments 
at  Crisfield,  in  1879,  tms  officer  was  engaged  in  ex- 
amining the  oyster-beds  of  Tangier  Sound,  and  he 
made  frequent  visits  to  the  laboratory  and  learned  my 
methods.  The  next  year,  while  stationed  at  Cadiz, 
Spain,  on  naval  duty,  he  repeated  the  experiments 
with  Portuguese  oysters,  and  showed  that  these,  like 
the  American  oysters,  have  the  sexes  separate,  and 
that  the  eggs  are  fertilized  in  the  water;  that  the 
young  are  independent  of  parental  protection,  and 
that  they  can  be  artificially  reared  like  the  oysters  of 
our  waters.  His  results  were  given  in  a  paper  which 
was  read  before  the  Maryland  Academy  of  Sciences, 
in  November,  1881,  and  this  paper  was  afterwards 
printed  in  the  American  Naturalist. 

The  next  great  step  was  the  discovery  of  a  simple 
and  practical  method  of  rearing  the  young  oysters 
which  are  hatched  artificially,  and  this  step,  which 
completes  the  solution  of  the  problem,  and  puts  it 
within  our  power  to  remove  forever  all  danger  of  the 
extermination  of  the  oyster,  is  the  contribution  of  a 
French  naturalist,  M.  Bouchon-Brandeley.  This 
author,  like  Winslow,  experimented  with  the  Portu- 
guese oysters,  and  while  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  acquainted  with  Winslow's  paper,  he  arrived  at 
the  same  conclusion,  and  showed  that  the  sexes  are 
separate,  that  the  eggs  are  fertilized  in  the  water,  and 
that  the  young  may  be  hatched  artificially;  but  he 
also  went  one  step  further,  and  succeeded  in  rearing 
in  this  way  a  very  great  number  of  seed-oysters  fit  for 
planting. 


THE  OYSTER.  57 

His  paper  was  translated  and  printed  April  19, 1883, 
in  the  Bulletin  of  the  U.  S.  Fish  Commission.  The 
following  extracts  from  this  translation  show  the  char- 
acter of  the  methods  which  are  employed,  and  the  re- 
sults which  were  obtained : 

"The  mollusc,  known  under  the  name  of  the  Portu- 
guese oyster,  has  not  existed  upon  our  coast  for  more 
than  thirty  years.  It  is  superfluous  to  here  describe 
their  external  form,  in  that  it  does  not  recall  that  of 
O.  edulis.  In  respect  to  sexuality,  the  difference  be- 
tween these  two  molluscs  is  very  great;  most  radical. 
Ostrea  edulis  is  hermaphrodite;  0.  angulata  is  uni- 
sexual or  dioecious.  We  have  opened  more  than 
10,000  in  all  phases  of  reproductive  activity,  and  we 
have  not  seen  a  single  one  of  the  latter  of  which  the 
sex  was  doubtful.  They  were  all  either  exclusively 
male  or  exclusively  female." 

"  No  less  marked  is  the  difference  in  the  mode  of 
reproduction.  The  eggs  of  the  common  oyster  are 
fecundated  within  the  valves  of  the  parent,  apparently 
within  the  openings  of  the  oviducts;  those  of  the 
Portuguese  species  on  the  bosom  of  the  waters.  The 
first  cannot  develop  outside  of  the  incubatory  cavity 
of  the  parent;  the  second  undergo  their  development 
in  the  open  currents.  The  larvae  of  O.  edulis,  in  order 
to  live,  develop  and  attain  the  errant  or  pelagic  stage 
of  their  existence,  are  dependent  upon  the  albuminous 
liquid  secreted  by  the  mother ;  those  of  O.  angulata, 
more  vigorous,  more  independent,  and  altogether 
more  active,  transport  themselves  into  the  living 
waters,  to  there  take  up  the  nutritive  matters  which  are 
necessary  to  transform  them  into  spat. 


58  THE  OYSTER. 

"  When  after  two  years  we  had  learned  for  a  cer- 
tainty that  the  sexes  of  Ostrea  angulata  were  confined 
to  separate  individuals,  we  immediately  conceived  that 
it  was  possible  to  artificially  fertilize  the  eggs  of  this 
mollusc.  We  were  likewise  encouraged  by  the  experi- 
ments which  Brooks,  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity of  Baltimore,  had  made  upon  Ostrea  virginica, 
likewise  unisexual,  and  which  had  enabled  him  to  fol- 
low the  development  of  the  embryos  to  the  formation 
of  the  shell." 

"M.  Tripota,  one  of  the  veteran  ostraculturists,  and 
at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most  competent,  very  will- 
ingly, at  the  request  of  the  commissioner,  M.  Jouan, 
placed  at  our  disposal,  with  a  grace  and, disinterested- 
ness for  which  we  are  under  great  obligations,  two 
beautiful  unsubmersible  claires,  which  received  fresh 
water  for  several  days  during  the  spring  tide,  and 
which  were  soon  arranged  for  our  use  by  means  of 
some  slight  internal  alterations.  Separated  from  each 
other  by  a  straight,  massive  wall  of  earth,  these  two 
ponds,  with  an  area  of  about  100  meters  each,  and  an 
average  depth  of  80  centimeters  to  T  meter  (27  inches 
to  3  feet),  were  placed  in  communication  by  means  of 
a  pipe,  which  was  closed  at  either  end  by  a  sponge,  to 
keep  out  any  sediment  in  suspension  in  the  water.  In 
this  manner  all  doubt  as  to  the  origin  of  the  spat 
which  was  collected  was  guarded  against." 

"For  the  outlet,  an  apparatus  consisting  of  a  wall  of 
fine  sand  confined  by  boards  permitted  the  water  to 
percolate  through  it,  but  prevented  the  embryos  from 
escaping  with  it.  The  lowermost  claire  only  was 
utilized  in  our  experiments.  The  uppermost  claire,  in 


THE   OYSTER.  59 

which  we  stored  the  water  whenever  it  was  possible, 
served  as  a  reservoir  from  which  to  decant,  the  supply 
pipe  allowing  nothing  to  pass  into  the  experimental 
claire  except  clear  water." 

"This  arrangement  completed,  the  products  of  arti- 
ficial fecundation,  impregnated  in  various  ways,  were 
poured  into  the  experimental  reservoir.  This  took 
place  in  the  second  week  in  June." 

"According  to  our  belief,  we  hoped  to  find  some 
spat  on  the  collectors  placed  in  the  experimental  claire 
at  the  end  of  the  same  month  or  by  the  beginning  of 
the  month  of  July.  M.  Tripota,  who  had  taken  an  ac- 
tive part  in  the  work,  and  who  took  my  place  in  my 
absence,  continued  to  supply  the  claire  with  fertilized 
eggs  and  mobile  embryos." 

"  The  time  assigned  for  experimental  proof  having 
arrived,  the  collectors  were  examined,  but  they  did 
not  bear  any  apparent  trace  of  spat.  This  was  a  de- 
ception. Meanwhile,  thinking  that  the  season  for  the 
fry  had  not  yet  begun  in  the  Gironde,  we  expected 
happier  results  from  our  final  experiments.  The  claire 
was  emptied,  and  some  modifications  were  introduced 
in  the  management  of  the  water,  and  from  day  to  day 
mixtures  of  the  generative  products  were  again  poured 
into  the  claire." 

"  On  the  24th  July  the  tiles  were  examined.  This 
time  all  had  spat  attached.  It  was  therefore  evident 
that  the  first  experiments  had  not  been  as  unsuccessful 
as  we  had  supposed.  In  fact,  each  of  the  tiles  im- 
mersed had  young  oysters  attached,  to  the  number  of 
twenty  or  thirty,  measuring  about  a  centimeter  (two- 
fifths  of  an  inch)  in  diameter.  This  spat  was  evidently 


60  THE  OYSTER. 

derived  from  the  spawn  put  out  during  the  end  of 
June  or  the  commencement  of  July;  but  their  small 
size  had  prevented  us'from  seeing  them  when  the  in- 
spection was  made  at  that  time.  On  the  24th  July  we 
had  specimens  about  a  month  old.  This  fact  was  all 
the  more  remarkable,  in  that,  up  to  that  same  time,  the 
collectors  placed  in  the  Gironde,  in  the  very  center  of 
the  spawning  beds,  did  not  show  a  sign  of  spat." 

"The  problem  which  we  had  put  before  ourselves 
had  accordingly  received,  from  a  scientific  and  practi- 
cal point  of  view,  a  solution  in  conformity  with  our 
hopes.  It  was  possible  to  obtain  spat  by  means  of 
artificial  fecundation,  and  to  capture  it  in  confined 
waters.  And  we  no  longer  had  the  slightest  reason 
to  doubt  the  identity  of  that  which  had  caught  on  our 
tiles,  nor  to  suppose  that  it  came  from  the  waters 
without,  since  there  was  as  yet  none  apparent  in  the 
Gironde,  and  the  tiles  in  the  upper  claire,  which  served 
to  feed  the  experimental  claire,  were  completely 
exempt." 

"If  in  forcing  nature's  processes  we  arrive  at  the 
same  result,  that  is,  provoke  the  birth  of  the  young 
before  the  time  of  the  normal  emission  of  the  spawn, 
there  is  all  the  more  reason  for  us  to  suppose  that  we 
have  an  excellent  means  to  aid  and  favor  her." 

Such,  briefly  sketched,  is  the  early  history  of  the 
oyster,  and  the  process  of  rearing  oysters  artificially; 
but  its  development  is  of  vastly  greater  interest  than 
a  mere  description  would  indicate.  It  contains 
enough  material  for  philosophical  meditation  and  for 
scientific  research  to  occupy  many  generations  of 
students,  and  the  practical  importance  of  a  knowledge 


THE  OYSTER.  6 1 

of  its  embryology  does  not  end  with  the  facts,  and  we 
shall  find  among  the  purely  speculative  deductions 
which  naturalists  have  drawn  from  it  much  which  will 
help  us  to  appreciate,  and  to  utilize  the  oyster  as  a 
food  resource. 

When  the  egg  is  first  laid  it  is  a  little  globule  of 
living  matter,  with  no  visible  indication  of  the  struc- 
ture of  an  oyster,  although  it  is  a  potential  oyster,  and 
is  destined  to  build  up,  slowly,  but  surely,  from  the 
vegetable  food  in  the  water,  every  part  of  a  complicated 
adult  like  that  which  produced  it.  It  is  not,  however, 
an  oyster  in  miniature.  Our  utmost  means  of  observ- 
ation do  not  reveal  in  it  anything  whatever,  at  all  like 
the  structure  of  the  adult.  Such  structure  as  the 
microscope  does  show  is  the  structure  of  a  cell,  like 
one  of  those  which  make  up  the  oyster's  body,  and 
the  process  of  development  is  at  first  simply  a  process 
of  cell-multiplication,  not  the  unfolding  and  enlarge- 
ment of  a  rudimentary  oyster.  If  we  compare  an 
adult  oyster  to  a  brick  house,  then  the  egg  corre- 
sponds to  a  brick,  not  to  a  little  house,  and  develop- 
ment begins  by  cell-division  or  the  multiplication  of 
bricks  rather  than  by  the  growth  of  a  little  house.  So 
far  as  the  microscope  tells  us,  there  is  nothing  like  an 
oyster  in  the  egg,  yet  it  must  be  there  in  some  form, 
for  an  oyster's  egg  never  becomes  anything  except  an 
oyster.  If  we  knew  only  the  higher  animals  we  might 
suppose  that  the  development  of  an  egg  is  guided  in 
some  way  by  the  influence  of  the  parent;  but  there 
can  be  no  such  directing  influence  in  the  case  of  the 
oyster  egg,  for  this  is  thrown  on  the  world  to  take 
care  of  itself  before  its  development  begins.  The 


62  THE  OYSTER. 

force  which  causes  it  to  become  an  oyster  cannot  come 
from  parental  influence,  nor  can  it  be  due  to  anything 
in  the  external  world,  for  hosts  of  other  animals  live 
in  the  water  with  the  oyster,  and  side  by  side  with  the 
oyster  eggs  float  those  of  starfishes,  annelids  and 
countless  other  animals,  all  exposed  to  exactly  the 
same  external  conditions,  and  yet  each  develops  after 
its  own  kind,  and  builds  up  cell  by  cell  an  animal  like 
its  parent. 

There  is  no  escape  from  the  belief  that  the  directing 
force  is  in  the  egg  itself,  and  when  the  microscope 
was  first  used  to  study  the  early  stages  of  animals, 
naturalists  thought  they  could  discover  in  the  egg  the 
little  image  in  miniature  of  the  future  animal,  and  they 
taught  that  this  exists  in  a  perfect  but  dormant  and 
unexpanded  condition  in  the  egg,  and  that  the  process 
of  development  is  nothing  more  than  the  growth  and 
expansion  of  this  germ. 

More  careful  study  with  better  instruments  and  im- 
proved methods  has  failed  to  verify  this  supposed  dis- 
covery, and  so  far  as  our  present  means  of  research 
go,  they  reveal  nothing  whatever  in  the  egg  which 
resembles  the  adult  in  any  particular,  nor  do  they 
show  anything  in  the  oyster  egg  which  should  cause 
it  to  become  an  oyster  rather  than  some  other  animal. 
The  testimony  of  all  observers,  based  upon  the  study 
of  all  kinds  of  animals,  is  that  the  egg  is  not  compara- 
ble to  the  adult  in  miniature,  but  to  one  of  the  con- 
stituent cells  of  its  body;  that  the  development  of  an 
egg  is  not  the  unfolding  of  a  germ,  but  a  process  of 
cell-multiplication.  The  egg  divides  into  a  number  of 
cells  like  itself,  and  these  divide  and  subdivide  until 


THE  OYSTER.  63 

they  are  very  numerous.  At  first  they  are  alike,  but 
they  soon  become  specialized  in  different  ditections, 
and  thus  gradually  build  up  the  tissues  and  organs  of 
the  body.  These  gradually  acquire  their  final  form, 
but  they  are  at  first  simple  cell-aggregates,  out  of 
which  the  complex  whole  is  finally  built  up  by  the 
combination  and  organization  of  the  simple  units, 
somewhat  as  a  regiment  of  soldiers  is  organized  from 
a  mob  of  men. 

The  directing  influence  must  be  in  the  egg, although 
it  has  so  far  eluded  all  efforts  to  discover  it.  The  adult 
oyster,  with  its  complicated  organs,  so  beautifully  and 
wonderfully  fitted  to  its  needs,  and  so  intricately  re- 
lated to  each  other  as  parts  of  a  complex  whole,  is  a 
most  interesting  subject  for  study.  No  one  can  study 
the  structure  of  any  animal  without  admiring  the  fit- 
ness of  all  its  parts  for  their  work.  As  we  trace  out 
the  use  of  one  part  after  another,  and  the  oyster  be- 
comes intelligible  to  us,  its  completeness  impresses  us 
more  and  more ;  but  if  we  are  thus  impressed  by  the 
study  of  a  complicated  mechanism,  adapted  for  bring- 
ing about  complicated  results,  what  mus.t  be  our  re- 
flections when  we  find  in  the  egg  the  capacity  for  pro- 
ducing the  same  results  without  any  visible  mechanism 
whatever!  Everything  which  seems  so  admirable  in 
the  adult,  when  it  is  the  result  of  organization,  exists 
potentially  in  the  egg,  where  there  is  no  discoverable 
organization ;  and  if  the  result  of  the  process  of  de- 
velopment, the  complete  oyster,  is  wonderful  and  in- 
teresting, how  much  more  wonderful  is  the  process 
itself.  To  those  who  can  picture  in  imagination  its 
hidden  structure,  an  egg  is  one  of  the  most  marvel- 


64  THE   OYSTER. 

lous  bodies  in  the  universe.  Elsewhere  we  have  com- 
plex results  from  complex  means,  but  here  we  have 
the  most  complex  of  all  things,  a  living  body,  arising 
without  any  visible  machinery. 

Even  after  the  cells  which  result  from  the  multipli- 
cation of  the  egg  cell  become  pretty  numerous  and 
begin  to  shape  themselves  into  a  complicated  body, 
this  at  first  bears  no  close  resemblance  to  an  oyster, 
and  while  the  ultimate  outcome  is  an  oyster  like  the 
parent,  I  should  give  my  readers  a  very  incomplete 
and  erroneous  picture  of  the  history  of  its  develop- 
ment if  I  did  not  lay  stress  upon  the  very  remarkable 
fact  that  this  result  is  not  reached  directly. 

The  mature  oyster  is  a  sedentary  animal  with  no 
power  of  locomotion.  It  lies  on  its  side,  soldered  to 
the  bottom  by  the  outside  of  the  deep  spoon-shaped 
left  shell,  for  which  the  flat  right  shell  forms  a  mova- 
ble lid.  Its  gills  are  very  complicated  organs,  adapted 
for  drawing  into  the  fixed  shell  a  steady  current  of 
water,  and  they  pour  into  the  open  mouth  of  the  animal 
a  constant  stream  of  food,  so  that  eating  goes  on  as  un- 
interruptedly as  breathing,  and  is  just  as  much  beyond 
the  control  of  the  animal.  The  adult  oyster  makes 
no  efforts  to  obtain  its  food,  it  has  no  way  to  escape 
from  danger,  and  after  its  shell  is  entered  it  is  per- 
fectly helpless  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  smallest  enemy. 
So  far  as  active  aggressive  life  goes  it  is  almost  as 
inert  and  inanimate  as  a  plant,  and  its  life  is  purely 
vegetative.  This  is  the  adult  oyster.  The  young 
oyster  is  very  different.  It  is  an  active  animal,  swim- 
ming from  place  to  place.  Its  gills  are  not  leaf-like, 
and  they  do  not  divide  the  mantle-chamber  into  two 


THE  OYSTER.  65 

parts.  They  are  nothing  but  breathing  organs,  and 
are  simple  finger-like  tentacles  which  hang  down  into 
the  water.  There  is  no  gill-current  as  there  is  in  the 
adult,  and  the  young  oyster  must  find  its  own  food  by 
swimming  through  the  water.  Its  two  shells  are  also 
exactly  alike,  and  therefore  quite  different  from  those 
of  the  adult. 

The  egg  therefore  tends,  at  first,  to  build  up  an 
animal  which  differs  greatly  from  the  adult,  in  struc- 
ture as  well  as  in  habits,  and  naturalists  believe,  as  I 
have  already  said,  that  our  modern  oysters  are  the 
descendants  of  an  ancient  form  which  was  not  seden- 
tary, and  the  egg  at  first  exhibits  a  decided  tendency 
to  build  up  this  ancestor  rather  than  an  oyster. 

Some  of  you  may  ask  how  we  know  that  the  remote 
ancestors  of  the  oyster  were  different  from  modern 
oysters.  This  is  a  fair  question,  and  I  will  try  to  give 
an  outline  of  the  reasons  for  this  opinion,  and  perhaps 
an  illustration  may  help  us. 

When  a  Baltimorean  visits  New  York  or  Savannah 
or  Boston  or  Chicago,  he  finds  that  while  the  people 
of  these  cities  talk  the  same  language,  it  is  with  a 
difference.  They  all  talk  what  they  call  English,  but 
when  an  Englishman  comes  among  us  he  tells  us 
that  it  is  not  English,  and  it  is  quite  clear  to  an 
American  who  visits  England  that  the  people  there  do 
not  know  how  to  talk  United  States,  although  the 
differences  are  trivial  ones,  of  accent  and  idiom,  and 
do  not  in  the  least  hinder  conversation. 

If,  however,  we  cross  the  narrow  strip  of  water 
.which  separates  England  from  the  German  empire,  we 
find  a  strange,  language,  which  at  first  seems  totally 

3* 


66  THE  OYSTER. 

unfamiliar  and  unintelligible,  but  as  our  ears  become 
more  accustomed  to  the  strange  sounds  we  find  many 
which  are  not  as  unintelligible  as  they  seemed  at  first. 

When  a  German  talks  of  his  vater,  his  mutter,  his 
bruder,  his  schwester,  when  he  asks  us  to  share  his 
brod  und  butter,  or  offers  us  a  glas  wasser,  we  need  no 
dictionary  to  tell  us  what  he  means. 

We  know  that  the  Americans  and  the  English  of 
to-day  are  descended  from  common  ancestors,  only  a 
few  generations  back,  from  whom  they  have  inherited 
their  common  language,  and  we  know  from  literature 
that  this  was  not  exactly  the  same  as  modern  English 
or  modern  American,  and  history  also  tells  us  that 
still  further  back,  Anglo-Saxon  and  modern  German 
had  a  common  starting-point.  Philologists  therefore 
make  use  of  the  resemblances  between  languages  to 
trace  out  their  origin,  and  whenever  they  find  that  two 
or  three  languages  have  a  common  plan,  a  funda- 
mental similarity  of  grammatical  structure,  they  be- 
lieve that  they  are  divergent  modifications  from  a 
common  starting-point.  In  some  cases  printed  lan- 
guage has  preserved  an  actual  history  of  the  process, 
but  in  other  cases,  where  there  is  no  such  history,  the 
student  of  comparative  grammar  forms  his  conclusions 
by  comparison  ;  and,  even  where  the  primitive  lan- 
guage is  lost,  he  is  able  to  reconstruct  it  in  part,  for  he 
knows  that  it  must  have  been  characterized  by  all  the 
features  which  its  derivatives  have  in  common. 

Now,  animals  exhibit  resemblances  of  very  much 
the  same  character  as  those  between  languages,  and^ 
when  we  find  that  several  representatives  of  a  great 
group  are  constructed  upon  the  same  fundamental 


THE  OYSTER.  6? 

plan,  we  infer,  just  as  the  philologist  does,  that  they 
are  the  divergent  descendants  of  a  common  ancestor, 
from  whom  they  have  inherited  the  features  which 
they  have  in  common. 

The  philologist  is  sometimes  able  to  verify  his  con- 
clusion by  the  proofs  which  have  been  preserved  in 
books  and  inscriptions,  and  he  regards  this  as  evidence 
that,  in  other  cases  where  no  such  record  is  preserved, 
his  results  are  equally  trustworthy. 

Occasionally  the  student  of  comparative  anatomy, 
like  the  student  of  comparative  grammar,  finds  a  fossil 
form  which  unites  in  itself  the  characteristics  of  several 
widely  separated  descendants,  and  is  thus  enabled  to 
test  and  to  verify  the  conclusions  which  he  has  reached 
by  comparative  study. 

In  this  way,  through  the  study  of  details  too  numer- 
ous and  minute  to  be  described  here,  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  oyster  is  descended  from  a  mollusc  which 
was  furnished  with  locomotor  organs  and  sense  organs, 
and  which  wandered  about  in  search  of  food,  and  had 
altogether  a  much  wider  and  more  varied  life  than  that 
of  the  oyster.  Its  gills  were  very  simple  and  were 
nothing  but  breathing  organs,  and  the  many  uses 
which  they  serve  were  provided  for  by  distinct  organs. 

Very  long  ago,  as  we  measure  time,  but  quite  late 
in  the  history  of  the  mollusca,  as  the  continental  areas 
were  elevated  and  became  covered  with  terrestrial 
vegetation,  and  fringed  by  bays  and  sounds  of  brackish 
water,  it  gradually  became  modified  in  such  a  way  as 
to  fit  it  for  life  in  these  estuaries.  Its  locomotor  organs 
and  its  organs  for  discovering  and  capturing  food 
were  gradually  lost,  as  it  learned  to  feed  upon  the 


68  THE   OYSTER. 

microscopic  life  of  the  mud-flats.  The  gills  then 
gradually  became  modified  and  fitted  for  maintaining 
the  circulation  of  water,  and  for  filtering  out  the 
minute  food  particles  it  contains. 

Food  is  most  abundant  on  the  muddy  bottom,  but 
in  estuaries  this  is  so  deep 'and  soft  that  a  locomotor 
animal  would  sink  and  smother  in  it,  so  the  oyster 
has  gradually  become  converted  into  a  fixture,  and 
has  learned  to  fasten  itself  when  young  to  something 
firm  enough  to  keep  it  out  of  the  soft  mud,  but  near 
enough  to  it  to  be  within  easy  reach  of  the  vast  supply 
of  food  which  it  affords.  As  a  fixed  animal  does  not 
need  to  have  the  two  sides  of  its  body  balanced,  the 
fixed  oyster  has  become  one-sided,  and  has  thus  been 
still  better  fitted  for  its  peculiar  mode  of  life. 

These  changes,  while  they  are  on  the  whole  ad- 
vantageous, since  they  enable  the  oysters  to  avail 
themselves  of  inexhaustible  supplies  of  food,  are  not 
without  disadvantage.  The  oyster  has  become  so 
perfectly  adapted  fora  life  on  those  hard  bodies  which 
occur  in  the  soft  mud  of  estuaries,  that  it  cannot  live 
anywhere  else,  and  the  young  oysters  which  do  not 
find  a  proper  hcfme  soon  die.  In  shallow  bays  and 
sounds  hard  substances  are  rare  and  far  apart,  and 
many  young  oysters  must  perish  from  inability  to 
find  a  proper  resting  place.  To  meet  this  danger  the 
oyster's  birth  rate  has  been  enormously  increased,  so 
that  among  its  innumerable  descendants  some  few 
may  be  able  to  find  proper  homes,  and  may  grow  up 
to  maturity  in  their  turn. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   ARTIFICIAL   CULTIVATION   OF   OYSTERS. 

If  the  Chesapeake  Bay  is  as  rich  in  food  for  oysters 
as  I  have  asserted,  and  if  the  oyster  multiplies  at  such  a 
very  high  rate  of  increase,  how  can  our  oyster  supply  be 
in  any  danger,  or  how  can  there  be  any  need  for  aid  from 
man  in  order  to  maintain  and  develop  the  oyster-beds  ? 
At  first  sight  it  does  not  seem  possible  that  an  animal 
which  is  protected  from  enemies  by  a  strong  stony 
shell,  and  which  is  capable  of  giving  rise  to  several 
million  eggs  each  season,  can  be  in  any  danger  of 
extermination,  and  it  seems  as  if  the  oyster  ought  to 
be  able  to  hold  its  own  in  the  struggle  for  existence, 
and  to  increase  and  multiply  in  spite  of  adverse  circum- 
stances. 

We  should  rather  expect  to  find  the  whole  bottom 
of  the  bay  paved  with  oysters,  and  for  many  years,  the 
statement  that  there  is  any  need  for  measures  to  pre- 
vent the  destruction  of  our  natural  beds  and  the  total 
extermination  of  our  oysters  has  been  met  with 
ridicule,  and  it  has  been  flatly  contradicted  by  persons 
whose  qualifications  for  expressing  an  opinion  would 
seem  to  be  very  great. 

In  1884  a  commissioner,  who  had  been  appointed 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Maryland  to 
examine  and  report  upon  the  condition  of  the  oyster- 


70  THE  OYSTER. 

beds  of  the  State,  with  such  recommendations  as  might 
seem  advisable  for  the  protection  of  the  oyster  in- 
dustry, reported  that  "he  has  no  fears  but  what  the 
"  present  oyster  supply  will  be  kept  up  to  its  present 
"  standard,  and  within  a  few  years  increased.  The 
"  supply  is  now  greater,  probably,  than  ever  before,  and 
"the  prices  higher,  taking  the  season  through.  It  is  the 
"  increased  demand  and  consequent  higher  prices  that 
"  has  created  the  oyster  panic  in  the  public  mind  to  a 
"  great  extent.  The  undersigned  is  not  fully  in  accord 
"with  the  majority  report  in  the  belief  that  the  oyster 
"property  of  the  State  is  in  imminent  danger  of  com- 
"  plete  destruction.  This  is  not  likely,  unless  we  fail 
"  to  give  the  interest  even  ordinary  care  and  protection. 
"  Whilst  in  some  localities  the  beds  have  been  greatly 
"  depleted  by  overwork,  and  in  others  destroyed  chiefly 
"  in  shallozv  water  tonging  ground,  the  beds  and  bars  as 
"a  rule  have  been  greatly  enlarged  by  working  them. 
"...  The  oyster  supply  of  our  waters,  taken  as  a 
"  whole,  it  is  likely  is  as  large  as  ever  it  was." 

In  view  of  this  statement,  and  similar  ones  from 
other  men  who  have  enjoyed  every  opportunity  to 
learn  the  truth  of  the  matter  and  to  qualify  themselves 
to  speak  upon  it  with  authority,  it  is  not  at  all  strange 
that  there  should  be  much  confusion  in  the  public 
mind,  and  that  the  prejudiced  statements  of  those  who 
have  profited  by  the  destruction  of  the  public  property 
should  outweigh  the  testimony  of  disinterested 
students. 

The  history  of  the  oyster-beds  of  Europe,  and  of 
those  in  many  of  the  Northern  States,  should  have 
been  enough  to  warn  us,  years  ago,  of  the  need  for  the 


T'ffE  OYSTER.  ?I 

protection  and  development  of  our  own  beds,  but  our 
people  have  been  too  confident  of  the  inexhaustible 
vitality  of  our  own  beds  to  heed  the  warning.  So 
long  as  the  consumption  of  oysters  was  restricted  to 
regions  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  bay,  the 
number  of  oysters  which  could  be  taken  from  each 
bed  and  put  upon  the  market  each  season  was  so 
small  that  it  could  be  furnished  without  taxing  the  beds, 
but  more  than  ten  years  ago,  November,  1879, 1  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  perfection  of  our  facilities 
for  packing  and  transporting  oysters  had  produced  such 
a  great  demand,- that  the  danger  of  destroying  our  best 
beds  was  growing  greater  every  day,  and  was  keeping 
pace  with  the  growth  of  our  population  and  the 
improvements  in  transportation,  and  I  called  the 
attention  of  those  who  believe  that  the  supply  is  suffi- 
cient for  all  demands,  to  the  history  of  other  countries. 

No  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  oyster- 
beds  of  other  parts  of  the  world  can  be  surprised  at  the 
deterioration  of  our  own  beds.  Everywhere,  in  France, 
in  Germany,  in  England,  in  Canada,  and  in  all  northern 
coast  states,  history  tells  the  same  story.  In  all  waters 
where  oysters  are  found  at  all  they  are  usually  found 
in  abundance,  and  in  all  of  these  places  the  residents 
supposed  that  their  natural  beds  were  inexhaustible 
until  they  suddenly  found  that  they  were  exhausted. 
The  immense  area  covered  by  our  own  beds  has  en- 
abled them  to  withstand  the  attacks  of  the  oystermen 
for  a  much  longer  time,  but  all  who  are  familiar  with 
the  subject  have  long  been  aware  that  our  present  sys- 
tem can  have  only  one  result — extermination. 

An  estimation  of  the  effect  of  excessive  fishing  may 


72  THE  OYSTER. 

be  formed  by  examining  its  results  upon  such  beds  in 
England  and  France  as  have  records  upon  the  sub- 
ject. The  most  instructive  of  these  are  the  records  of 
the  production  of  the  beds  of  Cancale  Bay,  on  the 
northwest  coast  of  France,  which  extend  over  a  period 
of  sixty-eight  years — from  1800  to  1868.  The  beds 
in  the  bay  comprise  an  area  of  about  150  acres,  and 
from  1800  to  1816  produced  from  400,000  to  2,400,- 
ooo  a  year.  This,  however,  was  the  period  of  the  Na- 
polepnic  wars,  and  the  fishing  was  much  disturbed  by 
the  presence  of  the  English  cruisers.  During  this  time 
the  beds  became  so  thickly  stocked  that  the  oysters 
were  said  to  be  a  yard  thick  in  some  places.  After  the 
close  of  the  war  the  fishing  improved,  and  the  oysters 
were  removed  in  larger  and  increasing  numbers  until 
1843.  From  1823  to  1848  it  was  supposed  that  the 
dredgers  were  living  upon  the  oysters  accumulated 
during  the  period  of  enforced  rest  from  1800  to  1816.  In 
1817  the  number  of  oysters  produced  was  5,600,000, 
and  until  1843  there  was  a  constant  increase,  the  num- 
ber taken  in  the  latter  year  being  70,000,000.  In  1848 
it  was  60,000,000 ;  thenceforward  there  was  a  constant 
decrease.  From  1850  to  1856  the  decrease  was  from 
50,000,000  to  18,000,000,  supposed  to  be  the  effect  of 
overdredging.  From  1859  to  X868  the  decrease  was 
from  16,000,000  to  1,079,000;  the  oysters  having 
almost  entirely  disappeared  from  the  beds,  though,  on 
account  of  the  suffering  condition  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  shores,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  prevent  it. 
In  1870  there  was  a  complete  wreck  of  the  bottom, 
which  could  only  be  remedied  by  a  total  prohibition 
of  the  fisheries  for  several  years. 


THE  OYSTER.  73 

From  the  beds  of  the  districts  of  Rochefort,  Mar- 
ennes,  and  Island  of  Oleron,  on  the  west  coast  of 
France,  there  were  taken  in  1853-54  10,000,000  oys- 
ters, and  in  1854-55  15,000,000.  On  account  of 
exhaustive  fishing  only  400,000  could  be  obtained  in 
1863-64. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Webber,  mayor 
of  Falmouth,  England,  about  700  men,  working  300 
boats,  were  employed  in  a  profitable  oyster  fishery  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Falmouth  until  1866,  when  the 
old  laws  enforcing  a  "  close  time "  were  repeated, 
under  an  impression  that,  owing  to  the  great  produc- 
tive powers  of  the  oyster,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
remove  a  sufficient  number  to  prevent  the  re-stocking 
of  the  beds.  Since  1866  the  beds  have  become  so  im- 
poverished from  excessive  and  continual  fishing,  that 
in  1876  only  40  men  and  40  boats  could  find  employ- 
ment, and  small  as  the  number  is,  they  could  not  take 
more  than  60  or  100  oysters  a  day,  while  formerly,  in 
the  same  time,  a  boat  could  take  from  10,000  to 
12,000. 

According  to  the  statement  of  Mr.  Messum,  an  oys- 
ter dealer  and  the  secretary  of  an  oyster  company  at 
Emsworth,  England,  made  before  the  Commission 
for  the  Investigation  of  Oyster  Fisheries,  in  May, 
1876,  there  were  in  the  harbor  of  Emsworth,  between 
the  years  of  1840  and  1850,  so  many  oysters  that  one 
man  in  five  hours  could  take  from  24,000  to  32,000. 
In  consequence  of  over-fishing,  in  1858  scarcely  ten 
vessels  could  find  loads,  and  in  1868  a  dredger  in  five 
hours  could  not  find  more  than  twenty  oysters. 

The  oyster  fisheries  of  Jersey,  in  the  English  Chan- 


74  THE   OYSTER. 

nel,  at  one  time  afforded  employment  to  400  vessels. 
In  six  or  seven  years  the  dredging  became  so  exten- 
sive and  the  beds  so  exhausted  that  only  three  or  four 
vessels  could  find  employment,  and  the  crews  of  even 
that  small  number  had  to  do  additional  work  on  shore 
in  order  to  support  themselves. 

In  view  of  such  facts  as  these,  no  one  who  appreci- 
ates the  magnitude  of  the  oyster  industry  of  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  can  doubt  that  the  protection  of  our 
beds  is  a  matter  of  vital  importance,  for  it  is  quite 
clear  that  we  cannot  trust  to  the  natural  fecundity  of 
the  oyster. 

It  is  well  known  to  naturalists  that  the  number  of 
individuals  which  reach  maturity  in  any  species  of 
animal  or  plant  does  not  depend  on  the  number  which 
are  born.  The  common  tapeworm  lays  hundreds  of 
millions  of  eggs  in  a  very  short  time,  yet  it  is  com- 
paratively rare.  The  number  of  children  born  to  each 
pair  of  human  beings  during  their  lifetime  of  sixty  or 
seventy  years  can  be  counted  on  the  fingers,  yet  man 
is  the  most  abundant  of  the  large  mammals.  The  abun- 
dance of  a  species  is  mainly  determined  by  the  ex- 
ternal conditions  of  life,  and  the  number  of  individuals 
which  are  born  has  very  little  to  do  with  it. 

In  the  case  of  the  oyster,  the  adult  is  well  protected 
against  the  attacks  of  most  of  the  enemies  which  are 
found  in  our  waters,  by  its  shell,  and  as  its  food  is 
very  abundant  and  is  brought  to  it  in  an  unfailing  sup- 
ply by  the  water,  it  is  pretty  sure  of  a  long  life  after  it 
has  reached  its  adult  form,  but  the  life  of  the  young 
oyster  is  very  precarious  :  that  of  the  young  American 
oyster  peculiarly  so,  since  it  is  exposed  to  many 


THE  OYSTER.  75 

enemies  and  accidents  at  the  time  when  it  is  most 
helpless.  The  oyster  of  Northern  Europe  lays  from 
one  to  two  million  eggs,  while  our  oyster  lays  about 
ten  times  as  many,  but  the  protection  which  is 
afforded  to  the  young  European  oyster  by  the  shell  of 
the  parent  more  than  balances  the  greater  birth-rate 
of  our  oyster. 

The  most  critical  time  in  the  life  of  the  American 
oyster  is  undoubtedly  the  time  when  the  egg  is  dis- 
charged into  the  water  to  be  fertilized,  for  the  chance 
that  each  egg  which-  floats  out  into  the  bay  to  shift  for 
itself  will  immediately  meet  with  a  male  cell  is  very 
slight,  and  infinite  numbers  of  eggs  are  lost  from  this 
cause.  The  next  period  of  great  danger  comes  as  the 
little  embryos  begin  to  swim  and  crowd  to  the  surface 
of  the  water.  They  are  so  totally  defenseless  and  are 
so  close  together  that  a  little  fish  swimming  along 
with  open  mouth  may  swallow  thousands  in  a  few 
mouthfuls,  and  I  have  found  that  at  this  time  a  sudden 
fall  of  temperature  is  fatal  to  them,  and  a  cold  rain  may 
destroy  millions.  As  soon  as  they  are  safely  past  this 
stage  and  have  scattered  and  begin  to  swim  at  various 
depths,  their  danger  from  accidents  and  enemies  is 
greatly  diminished,  and  their  chance  of  reaching  ma- 
turity increases  rapidly.  Experiments  which  I  carried 
on  many  years  ago  show  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
rearing  them  up  to  this  point  in  captivity,  and  that  in 
a  very  small  aquarium  millions  of  them  may  be  safely 
carried  past  the  most  precarious  part  of  their  lives 
and  freed  from  their  greatest  dangers. 

Although  the  mortality  at  their  early  stages  is  so 
excessive,  the  number  of  young  oysters  which  pass 


76  THE  OYSTER. 

through  them  in  safety  without  artificial  help  is  very 
great,  and  if  there  were  no  other  dangers  or  uncertain- 
ties there  would  be  no  need  of  measures  for  their  pro- 
tection. As  they  swim  to  and  fro  in  the  water  they 
are  carried  to  great  distances  by  the  tides  and  currents, 
and  they  reach  all  parts  of  the  region  of  water  within 
several  miles  of  the  parent  bed.  In  a  favorable  season, 
any  plant,  or  bush,  or  piece  of  driftwood  which  floats 
near  an  oyster-bed  becomes  covered  with  small  oys- 
ters, although  the  nearest  bed  maybe  miles  away;  and 
the  fact  that  young  oysters  may  be  thus  collected  in 
any  part  of  our  bay  shows  that  they  are  distributed 
everywhere,  and  we  might  expect  the  adults  to  have  an 
equally  general  distribution.  This  is  by  no  means  the 
case,  and  nothing  can  be  farther  from  the  truth  than 
the  idea  that  the  bottom  of  the  oyster  area  is  uniformly 
covered  with  oysters  or  ever  has  been,  although  it  is 
quite  true  that  oysters  may  be  reared  artificially  over 
nearly  the  whole  of  it.  The  idea  that  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  throw  a  dredge  overboard  anywhere  in  the 
oyster  area,  and  to  drag  it  along  the  bottom  for  a  short 
distance  in  order  to  bring  it  up  full,  is  totally  errone- 
ous. Such  a  condition  of  things  is  quite  within  the 
reach  of  the  cultivator,  but  it  never  exists  under 
natural  influences  alone.  In  this  country,  as  well  as 
in  Europe,  the  oysters  are  restricted  to  particular  spots 
called  "banks,"  or  "beds,"  or  "rocks,"  which  are  as 
well  defined  and  almost  as  sharply  limited  as  the  tracts 
of  woodland  in  a  farming  country — they  are  so  well 
marked  that  they  may  be*  laid  down  on  a  chart,  or  they 
may  be  staked  out  with  buoys ;  and  even  in  the  best 
dredging  grounds  they  occupy  such  an  inconsiderable 


THE  OYSTER.  77 

part  of  the  bottom  that  no  one  would  have  much 
chance  of  finding  oysters  by  promiscuous  dredging,  in 
ignorance  of  their  location.  Although  the  young  are 
distributed  every  year  by  the  tides  and  currents  over 
all  parts  of  the  bottom,  the  dredge  seldom  brings  up 
even  a  single  oyster  outside  the  limits  of  the  beds, 
under  natural  conditions. 

The  restriction  of  the  oysters  to  certain  points  does 
not  depend   on  the  supply  of  food,  for  this  -is  every-' 
where  abundant,  nor  to  any  great  degree  upon  the 
character  of  the  water.     It  is  almost  entirely  due  to  the 
nature  of  the  bottom. 

The  full-grown  oyster  is  able  to  live  and  flourish  in 
soft  mud  so  long  as  it  is  not  buried  too  deeply  for  the 
open  edge  of  the  shell  to  reach  above  the  mud  and 
draw  a  constant  supply  of  water  to  its  gills;  but  the 
oyster  embryo  would  be  ingulfed  and  smothered  at 
once  if  it  were  to  fall  on  such  a  bottom,  and  in  order 
to  have  the  least  chance  of  survival  it  must  find  some 
solid  substance  upon  which  to  fasten  itself,  to  preserve 
it  from  sinking  in  the  soft  mud,  or  from  being  buried 
under  it  as  it  shifts  with  wind  and  tide.  In  the  de- 
posits which  form  the  soft  bottom  of  sounds  and 
estuaries  solid  bodies  of  any  sort  rarely  occur,  and  the 
so-called  "  rocks  "  of  the  Chesapeake  are  not  ledges  or 
reefs,  but  accumulations  of  oyster  shells. 

Examination  of  a  Coast  Survey  chart  of  any  part  of 
the  Chesapeake  Bay  or  of  any  of  its  tributaries  will 
show  that  there  is  jusually  a  mid-channel,  or  line  of 
deep  water,  where  the  bottom  is  generally  soft  and 
where  no  oysters  are  met  with,  and  on  each  side  of 
this  an  area  where  the  bottom  is  hard,  running  from 


THE  OYSTER. 


PLATE  V. 

Oysters  fastened  to  the  upper  surface  of  a  round 
boulder,  which  had  formed  the  ballast  of  some  vessel 
and  had  been  thrown  overboard  in  the  bay,  where  the 
lower  half  had  become  embedded  in  the  bottom.  The 
figure,  which  is  about  one-fourth  the  size  of  the  speci- 
men, shows  the  way  in  which  the  oysteis  grow,  in 
dense  crowded  clusters,  on  any  solid  body  which  raises 
them  above  the  mud.  * 


THE  OYSTER.  79 

the  edge  of  the  channel  to  the  shore.  This  hard  strip 
is  the  oyster  area.  It  varies  in  width  from  a  few  yards 
to  several  miles,  and  the  depth  of  water  varies  upon  it 
from  a  few  feet  to  five  or  six  fathoms,  or  even  more. 
But  there  is  usually  a  sudden  fall  at  the  edge  of  the 
channel,  where  the  oysters  stop,  and  we  pass  to  soft 
bottom.  The  oyster  bottom  is  pretty  continuous,  ex- 
cept opposite  the  mouth  of  a  tributary,  where  it  is  cut 
across  by  a  deep,  muddy  channel.  The  solid  oyster 
rocks  are  usually  situated  along  the  outer  edge  of  this 
plateau,  although  in  many  cases  they  are  found  over 
its  whole  width  nearly  up  to  low-tide  mark,  or  beyond. 
As  we  pass  south  along  the  bays  and  sounds  of  Vir- 
ginia and  North  Carolina,  we  find  that  the  hard 
borders  of  the  channel  come  nearer  and  nearer  to  the 
surface,  until  in  the  lower  part  of  North  Carolina  there 
is  on  each  side  of  the  channel  a  wide  strip  of  hard 
bottom,  which  is  bare  at  low  tide  and  covered  with 
oysters  up  to  high-water  mark,  although  the  oysters 
are  most  abundant  and  largest  at  the  edge  of  the  deep 
water,  where  they  form  a  well-defined  reef.  In  our 
own  waters  there  is  usually  a  strip  along  the  shore 
where  no  oysters  are  found,  as  the  depth  of  water  is 
not  great  enough  to  protect  them  in  winter.  The 
whole  of  the  hard  belt  is  not  uniformly  covered  with 
oysters,  but  it  is  divided  up  into  separate  oyster  rocks, 
between  which  comparatively  few  can  be  found. 

The  boundaries  of  a  natural  rock  which  has  not  been 
changed  by  dredging  are  usually  well  defined,  and 
few  oysters  are  to  be  found  beyond  its  limits.  The 
oysters  are  crowded  together  so  closely  that  they  can- 
not lie  flat,  but  grow  vertically  upwards,  side  by  side. 


80  THE  OYSTER. 

They  are  long  and  narrow,  are  fastened   together  in 
clusters,  and  are  known  as  "  coon  oysters." 

When  such  a  bed  is  carefully  examined  it  will  be 
found  that  most  of  the  rock  is  made  up  of  empty  shells, 
and  a  little  examination  will  show  that  the  crowding 
is  so  great  that  the  growth  of  one  oyster  prevents  ad- 
jacent ones  from  opening  their  shells,  and  thus  crowds 
them  out  and  exterminates  them.  Examination  shows, 
too,  that  nearly  every  one  of  the  living  oysters  is 
fastened  to  the  open  or  free  end  of  a  dead  shell  which 
has  thus  been  crowded  to  death,  and  it  is  not  at  all 
unusual  to  find  a  pile  of  five  or  six  shells  thus  united, 
showing  that  number  two  had  fastened,  when  small, 
to  the  open  end  of  number  one,  thus  raising  itself  a 
little  above  the  crowd.  After  number  one  was  killed 
number  two  continued  to  grow,  and  number  three 
fastened  itself  to  its  shell,  and  so  on.  Usually  the 
oysters  upon  such  a  bed  are  small,  but  in  some  places 
shells  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  long  are  met  with.  The 
most  significant  characteristic  of  a  bed  of  this  kind  is 
the  sharpness  of  its  boundaries.  In  regions  where  the 
oysters  are  never  disturbed  by  man  it  is  not  unusual  to 
find  a  hard  bottom,  which  extends  along  the  edge  of 
the  shore  for  miles,  and  is  divided  up  into  a  number  of 
oyster  rocks,  where  the  oysters  are  so  thick  that  most 
of  them  are  crowded  out  and  die  long  before  they  are 
full-grown,  and  between  these  beds  are  areas  where 
not  a  single  oyster  can  be  found.  The  intervening 
area  is  perfectly  adapted  for  the  oyster,  and  when  a  few 
bushels  of  shells  are  scattered  upon  it  they  are  soon 
covered  with  young,  and  in  a  year  or  two  a  new  oys- 
ter rock  is  established  upon  them,  but  when  they  are 


THE  OYSTER.  8 1 

left  to  themselves  the  rocks  remain  sharply  defined. 
What  is  the  reason  for  this  sharp  limitation  of  a 
natural  bed  ?  Those  who  know  the  oyster  only  in  its 
adult  condition  may  believe  that  it  is  due  to  the  ab- 
sence of  power  of  locomotion,  and  may  hold  that  the 
young  oysters  grew  up  among  the  old  ones,  just  as 
young  oak  trees  grow  up  where  the  acorns  fall  from 
the  branches.  This  cannot  be  the  true  explanation, 
for  the  young  oysters  are  swimming  animals,  and  they 
are  discharged  into  the  water  in  countless  numbers,  to 
be  swept  away  to  great  distances  by  the  currents.  As 
they  are  too  small  to  be  seen  at  this  time  without  a 
microscope,  it  is  impossible  to  trace  their  wanderings 
directly,  but  it  is  possible  to  show  indirectly  that  they 
are  carried  to  great  distances,  and  that  the  water  for 
miles  around  the  natural  bed  is  full  of  them.  They 
serve  as  food  for  other  marine  animals,  and  when  the 
contents  of  the  stomachs  of  these  animals  are  carefully 
examined  with  a  microscope,  the  shells  of  the  little 
oysters  are  often  found  in  abundance.  While  examin- 
ing the  contents  of  the  stomach  of  lingula  in  this  way 
I  have  found  hundreds  of  the  shells  of  the  young  oys- 
ters in  the  swimming  stage  of  growth,  although  the 
specimens  of  lingula  were  captured  several  miles  from 
the  nearest  oyster-bed.  As  lingula  is  a  fixed  animal, 
the  oysters  must  have  been  brought  to  the  spot  where 
the  specimens  were  found,  and  as  lingula  has  no  means 
of  capturing  its  food,  and  subsists  upon  what  is  swept 
within  its  reach  by  the  water,  the  presence  of  so  many 
inside  its  stomach  shows  that  the  water  must  have  con- 
tained great  numbers  of  them. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  sharp  limitation  of  the  area 


82  THE   OYSTER. 

of  a  natural  oyster-bed  is  not  due  to  the  absence  in  the 
young  of  the  power  to  reach  distant  points.  There 
is  another  proof  of  this,  which  is  familiar  to  all  oyster- 
men — the  possibility  of  establishing  new  beds  without 
transplanting  any  oysters. 

I  once  observed  an  illustration  of  this.  On  part  of 
a  large  mud-flat  which  was  bare  at  low  tide  there 
were  no  oysters,  although  there  was  a  natural  bed 
upon  the  same  flats,  about  half  a  mile  away. 

A  wharf  was  built  from  high-tide  mark  across  the 
flat  out  to  the  edge  of  the  channel,  and  the  shells  of  all 
the  oysters  which  were  consumed  in  the  house  were 
thrown  on  to  the  mud  alongside  the  wharf.  In  the 
third  summer  the  flat  in  the  vicinity  of  the  wharf 
had  become  converted  into  an  oyster-bed,  with  a  few 
medium-sized  oysters  and  very  great  numbers  of 
young,  and  the  bottom,  which  had  been  rather  soft, 
had  become  quite  hard ;  in  fact,  the  spot  presented  all 
the  characteristics  of  a  natural  bed.  Changes  of  this 
sort  are  a  matter  of  familiar  experience,  and  it  is  plain 
that  something  else  besides  the  absence  in  the  oyster 
of  locomotor  power  determines  the  size  and  position 
of  a  bed. 

Now  what  is  this  something  else  f 

If  the  planting  of  dead  shells  will  build  up  a  new 
bed,  may  we  not  conclude  that  a  natural  bed  tends  to 
retain  its  position  and  size  because  the  shells^are  there? 

This  conclusion  may  not  seem  to  be  very  important, 
but  I  hope  to  show  that  it  is  really  of  fundamental 
importance,  and  is  essential  to  a  correct  conception  of 
the  oyster  problem.  .  . 

Why  should  the  presence  of  shells,  which  are  dead 


THE  OYSTER.  83 

and  have  no  power  to  multiply,  have  anything  to  do 
with  the  perpetuation  of  a  bed  ? 

We  have  already  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
oysters  are  found  on  the  hard  bottom  on  each  side  of 
the  channel,  while  they  are  not  found  in  the  soft  mud 
of  the  channel  itself,  and  it  may  at  first  seem  as  if  there 
were  some  direct  connection  between  a  hard  bottom 
and  the  presence  of  oysters,  but  the  fact  that  no  oysters 
are  found  upon  the  hard,  firm  sand  of  the  ocean  beach 
shows  that  this  is  not  the  case.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  thrive  best  upon  a  soft  bottom.  They  feed  upon 
the  floating  organic  matter  which  is  brought  to  them 
by  the  water,  and  this  food  is  most  abundant  where 
the  water  flows  in  a  strong  current  over  soft  organic 
mud.  When  the  bottom  is  hard  there  is  little  food, 
and  this  little  is  not  favorably  placed  for  diffusion  by 
the  water,  while  the  water  which  flows  over  soft  mud 
is  rich  in  food. 

The  young  oysters  which  settle  upon  or  near  a  soft 
bottom  are  therefore  most  favorably  placed  for  pro- 
curing food,  but  the  young  oyster  is  very  small — so 
small  that  a  layer  of  mud  as  deep  as  the  thickness  of 
a  sheet  of  paper  would  smother  and  destroy  it. 

Hence  the  young  oysters  have  the  habit  of  fastening 
themselves  to  solid  bodies,  such  as  shells,  rocks  or 
piles,  or  floating  bushes,  and  they  are  thus  enabled  to 
profit  by  the  soft  bottoms  without  danger. 

Owing  to  the  peculiar  shape  of  an  oyster  shell,  some 
portions  usually  project  above  the  mujj  long  after 
most  of  it  is  buried,  and  its  rough  surface  furnishes  an 
excellent  basis  for  attachment.  It  forms  one  of  the 
very  best  supports  for  the  young,  and  a  little  swimming 


84  THE  OYSTER. 

oyster  is  especially  fortunate  if  it  finds  a  clean  shell  to 
adhere  to  when  it  is  ready  to  settle  down  for  life. 
Then  too,  the  decaying  and  crumbling  shells  are 
gradually  dissolved  in  the  sea  water,  and  thus  furnish 
the  lime  which  the  growing  oyster  needs  to  build  up  its 
own  shell.  As  long  as  the  shell  is  soft  and  thin,  the 
danger  from  enemies  is  very  great,  and  this  danger  is 
greatly  diminished  as  soon  as  the  shell  becomes  thick 
enough  to  resist  attack.  It  is,  therefore,  very  necessary 
that  the  shell  should  be  built  up  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
and  an  abundant  supply  of  food  in  general  will  be  of  no 
advantage  unless  the  supply  of  lime  is  great  enough 
for  the  growth  of  the  shell  to  keep  pace  with  the  growth 
of  the  body.  All  sea  water  contains  lime  in  solution, 
but  the  percentage  is,  of  course,  greatest  near  the 
sources  of  supply.  It  is  well  known  that  on  coral 
reefs,  which  are  entirely  made  of  lime,  all  kinds  of 
shelled  molluscs  flourish  in  unusual  abundance,  and 
have  very  strong  and  massive  shells  ;  and  our  common 
land  and  fresh-water  snails  are  much  larger  and  more 
abundant  in  a  limestone  region  than  in  one  where 
the  supply  of  lime  is  scanty.  In  such  regions  it  is  not 
unusual  to  find  the  snails  gathered  around  old  decay- 
ing bones,  to  which  they  have  been  drawn  in  order  to 
obtain  a  supply  of  lime  for  their  shells. 

From  all  these  causes  combined  it  results  that  a 
young  oyster  which  settles  upon  a  natural  oyster-bed 
has  a  much  better  chance  of  survival  than  one  which 
settles  anywhere  else,  and  a  natural  bed  thus  tends 
to  perpetuate  itself  and  to  persist  as  a  definite,  well- 
defined  area ;  but  there  is  still  another  reason.  As  the 
flood-tide  rushes  up  the  channels  it  stirs  up  the  fine 
mud  which  has  been  deposited  in  the  deep  water.  The 


THE    OYSTER.  85 

mud  is  swept  up  on  to  the  shallows  along  the  shore, 
and  if  these  are  level,  much  of  the  sediment  settles 
there.  If,  however,  the  flat  is  covered  by  groups  of 
oysters,  the  ebbing  tide  does  not  flow  off  in  an  even 
sheet,  but  is  broken  up  into  thousands  of  small  chan- 
nels, through  which  the  sediment  flows  down,  to  be 
swept  out  to  sea. 

The  oyster-bed  thus  tends  to  keep  itself  clean,  and 
for  these  various  reasons  it  follows  that  the  more 
firmly  established  an  oyster-bed  is,  the  better  is  its 
chance  of  perpetuation,  since  the  young  spat  finds 
more  favorable  conditions  where  there  are  oysters,  or 
at  least  shells,  already,  than  it  finds  anywhere  else. 

Now,  what  is  the  practical  importance  of  this  de- 
scription of  a  natural  bed  ? 

It  is  this :  Since  a  natural  bed  tends  to  remain  per- 
manent, because  of-  the  presence  of  oyster  shells,  the 
shelling  of  bottoms  where  there  are  no  oysters  fur- 
nishes us  with  a  means  for  establishing  new  beds  or 
for  increasing  the  area  of  the  old  ones. 

The  oyster  dredgers  state,  with  perfect  truth,  that 
by  breaking  up  the  crowded  clusters  of  oysters  and 
by  scattering  the  shells,  the  use  of  the  dredge  tends 
to  enlarge  the  oyster-beds.  The  sketch  which  we  have 
just  given  shows  the  truth  of  this  claim,  but  this  is  a 
very  rough  and  crude  way  of  accomplishing  this  end, 
and  I  shall  now  give  a  description  of  the  means  which 
have  been  employed  in  different  places  to  accom- 
plish the  same  result  more  efficiently  and  methodi- 
cally. 

Within  recent  years,  much  attention  has  been  given 
to  the  possibility  of  increasing  the  supply  of  oysters 
by  artificial  means. 


86  THE  OYSTER. 


PLATE  VI. 

An  old  shoe,  one-fourth  natural  size,  upon  which 
there  are  forty  oysters,  large  enough  to  be  marketable, 
besides  a  great  number  of  smaller  ones. 


THE  OYSTER.  8? 

The  oyster  is  well  known  to  be  enormously  pro- 
lific, a  single  one  giving  birth  in  one  season  to  many 
million  young,  and  it  is  obvious  that  the  annual  sup- 
ply would  be  enormously  increased  if  all  the  young 
which  are  born  could  be  reared  to  maturity. 

Unfortunately,  this  is.  not  the  case,  and  under  a 
state  of  nature  millions  of  oysters  are  born  for  each 
one  which  grows  to  maturity.  Mobius  has  shown 
that  in  Europe  each  oyster  which  is  born  has  only  one 
chance  in  one  million  one  hundred  and  forty-five 
thousand  of  reaching  maturity  ;  I  have  shown  that  the 
chances  of  each  American  oyster  are  very  much  less. 

One  of  the  most  important  discoveries  of  the  last 
fifty  years  is,  that  it  is  quite  possible  to  save  many  of 
these  oysters  by  artificial  means  ;  and  experiments 
which  have  been  carried  on  in  France,  as  well  as  in 
many  parts  of  our  own  country,  prove  that  this  can  be 
done,  successfully  and  economically,  on  a  very  large 
scale. 

Soon  after  it  is  born  the  young  oyster  fastens  itself 
to  some  solid  body.  It  is  at  first  so  small  that 
it  is  smothered  and  killed  at  once  if  it  falls  upon  a 
muddy  or  slimy  bottom,  and  its  only  chance  for  life 
is  in  the  discovery  of  some  perfectly  clean,  hard  body 
upon  which  to  fasten.  Many  young  oysters  are  killed 
by  accidents  or  enemies  after  they  have  fastened 
themselves,  but  by  far  the  greater  number  perish 
through  failure  to  find  proper  places  for  attachment ; 
and  the  whole  secret  of  oyster  culture  is  to  furnish 
proper  bodies  for  the  attachment  of  the  young. 

Many  methods  of  doing  this  have  been  devised  and 
employed,  and  the  possibility  of  in  this  way  increas- 


88  THE   OYSTEX, 

ing  the  area  and  value  of  the  natural  beds,  and  of 
building  up  new  beds  or  restoring  old  ones,  has  been 
proven. 

As  this  is  by  far  the  most  important  aspect  of  the 
oyster  problem,  I  shall  devote  considerable  space  to 
the  history  of  these  experiments,  and  to  a  description 
of  the  means  and  apparatus  which  have  been  employed 
for  the  purpose. 

Although  the  development  of  this  industry  on  a 
large  scale  is  quite  modern,  seed  oysters  for  planting 
have  been  raised  artificially  upon  a  small  scale  in 
Italy  for  more  than  a  thousand  years,  by  a  very  sim- 
ple method. 

Pliny  tells  us  that  the  artificial  breeding  of  oysters 
was  first  undertaken  by  a  Roman  knight,  Sergius 
Orata,  in  the  waters  of  Lake  Avernus,  and  that  the 
enterprise  was  so  successful  that  its  director  soon  be- 
came very  rich. 

At  the  present  day  the  methods  which  were  intro- 
duced, and  probably  invented  by  Orata,  are  still  em- 
ployed by  the  oyster  cultivators  of  Lake  Fusaro,  a 
small  salt-water  lake.  Upon  the  deep,  black  mud 
of  the  lake  they  have  constructed  here  and  there 
heaps  of  rough  stones,  high  enough  to  keep  them 
above  the  mud  and  slime ;  upon  these  rocks,  oysters 
which  were  taken  from  the  sea  have  been  placed 
to  supply  the  spat,  and  these  breeding  oysters  grow 
and  multiply  and  do  not  need  to  be  renewed,  unless 
they  are  killed  by  some  accident  such  as  a  volcanic 
eruption.  Each  pile  of  rocks  is  surrounded  by  a 
circle  of  stakes,  firmly  planted  in  the  mud,  while 
their  upper  ends  are  united  above  water  by  a  cord, 


THE  OYSTER.  89 

from  which,  between  each  two  stakes,  a  small  bundle 
of  twigs  is  suspended  so  that  it  hangs  in  the  water 
near  the  bottom.  At  the  spawning  season  the 
oysters  upon  the  central  pile  of  rocks  discharge 
countless  myriads  of  embryos  into  the  water,  and 
many  of  them,  finding  close  at  hand  suitable  material 
for  their  attachment,  fasten  themselves  in  great  num- 
bers to  the  twigs,  and  grow  rapidly  until,  at  the  proper 
season,  the  cultivators  take  up  the  stakes  and  bundles, 
and  after  removing  those  oysters  which  are  of  a  suit- 
able size  for  the  market,  they  replace  the  stakes  and 
fagots,  and  leave  the  small  oysters  to  continue  their 
growth  until  the  next  season. 

In  quite  modern  times  the  study  of  these  old 
methods  of  oyster  culture  has  resulted  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  improved  methods  which  are  now  em- 
ployed in  France. 

In  1853,  M.  De  Bon,  then  Commissioner  of  Marine, 
was  directed  by  the  minister  to  attempt  to  restock 
certain  exhausted  beds  by  planting  new  oysters  upon 
them,  and  during  this  work,  which  was  perfectly  suc- 
cessful, he  discovered  that,  C9ntrary  to  the  general 
opinion,  the  oyster  can  reproduce  itself  after  it  has 
been  transplanted  to  bottoms  on  which  it  never  before 
existed,  and  he  at  once  commenced  a  series  of  experi- 
ments to  discover  some  way  to  collect  the  spat  emitted 
by  these  oysters,  and  he  soon  devised  a  successful 
apparatus,  which  consisted  of  a  rough  board  floor, 
(Figure  i),  raised  about  eight  inches  above  the  bottom, 
near  low-tide  mark,  covered  by  loose  bunches  o£  twigs. 

With  this  apparatus,  constructed  on  a  very  small 
scale,  he  obtained  results  which  showed  that  spat  may 


THE  OYSTER.  9 1 

be  collected  in  this  manner  without  difficulty;  but  no 
attempt  to  put  the  new  method  into  practical  use  was 
made  until  the  subject  was  taken  up  by  the  well*  known 
French  fish-cultivator  Coste,  who,  in  a  report  to  the 
Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  in  1855, giving 
an  account  of  his  examination  of  the  methods  used  at 
Lake  Fusaro,  expresses  his  desire  to  try  similar 
methods  in  France. 

Two  years  later  the  Emperor  supplied  the  means  for 
experiments  on  a  large  scale,  and  commissioned  Coste 
to  conduct  them.  Three  million  oysters,  purchased 
for  the  purpose,  were  conveyed  by  two  small  steamers 
and  a  flotilla  of  small  boats,  to  a  place  which  had  been 
selected,  where  oyster  shells  had  previously  been 
spread  to  serve  as  collectors,  and  after  the  oysters 
were  planted,  long  rows  of  bundles  of  fagots  were  let 
down  and  anchored  about  a  foot  above  them,  as  shown 
in  Figure  2. 

At  the  close  of  the  season  the  shells  and  branches, 
one  of  which  is  shown  in  Figure  3,  were  found  to  be 
covered  with  young  oysters,  and  more,  than  twenty 
thousand  oysters  were  counted  on  one  bundle. 

Before  he  began  his  work,  he  stated  in  his  report  for 
1858,  that  out  of  twenty-three  natural  beds  which 
formerly  constituted  a  great  source  of  wealth,  eighteen 
had  been  completely  destroyed,  while  the  remaining 
beds  had  been  so  impoverished  that  they  no  longer 
yielded  enough  oysters  for  planting.  In  another 
locality,  where  thirteen  valuable  beds  formerly  fur- 
nished employment  for  two  hundred  vessels  and  four- 
teen hundred  men  for  six  months  in  each  year,  and 
yielded  an  annual  harvest  valued  at  $60,000  to  $80,000, 


94  THE  OYSTER. 

only  three  beds  remained,  and  these  were  so  depleted 
that  twenty  boats  could  in  a  few  days  carry  away  all 
the  oysters. 

In  1863,  during  six  tides,  upon  only  one-half  of  an 
area  of  1000  acres  which  had  been  restocked,  he 
obtained  16,000,000  marketable  oysters. 

Land  was  then  ceded  by  the  government  to  indi- 
viduals, to  be  cultivated  in  the  same  way,  and  one  area 
of  492  acres  was  in  a  few  years  stocked  with  oysters 
valued  at  $8,000,000. 

The  government  farms  were  never  very  successful, 
but  the  industry  has  prospered  and  grown  steadily 
under  private  management,  and  the  oyster-culturists, 
taught  by  their  own  experience  and  by  the  results 
attained  through  the  government  experimental  parks, 
became  more  self-reliant;  they  improved  their  imple- 
ments and  their  methods  of  work.  It  may  be  affirmed 
that  in  the  two  principal  centers  in  which  it  is  now 
carried  on,  the  basins  of  Arcachon  and  Morbihan,  this 
industry  then  emerged  from  its  period  of  uncertainty. 
The  great  profits  realized  there  during  the  past  few 
years  have  brought  oyster  culture  again  into  favor,  and 
turned  toward  it  a  current  of  labor  and  capital  much 
greater  than  that  which  flowed  in  the  same  direction 
after  the  publication  of  M.  Coste's  report.  Requests 
for  concessions  of  parks  are  received  by  the  Minister 
of  Marine  from  all  quarters  of  the  coast.  Attempts 
are  being  made  to  reconstruct  old  and  abandoned 
establishments,  while  new  ones  are  being  started  in 
the  majority  of  localities  where  others  formerly  existed. 
Those  seeking  grants  desire  particularly  the  unclaimed 
localities  in  the  basin  of  Arcachon  and  the  rivers  of 


THE  OYSTER.  95 

the  marine  sub-district  of  Lorient,  certain  that  they  will 
receive  in  the  future  what  is  promised  by  the  present. 
At  the  close  of  1871  the  parks  controlled  by  private 
parties  in  this  basin  numbered  724,  and  occupied  a 
total  area  of  1450  acres;  at  the  close  of  1872  they  were 
1133  in  number  and  occupied  an  area  of  2625  acres; 
at  the  close  of  1874  they  numbered  1706,  and  covered 
an  extent  of  4310  acres,  not  counting  the  portion 
formerly  included  in  the  reserved  zone  but  now  given 
over  for  parking.  The  denomination  "  Reserved  Zone  " 
was  applied  to  a  considerable  section  of  the  basin,  in 
which  parks  were  prohibited  in  order  to  retain  a  com- 
mon fishing  ground  which  could  be  frequented  by 
all.  In  view  of  the  great  increase  in  oyster  culture  at 
Arcachon,both  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  the  old  parkers, 
who  complained  that  they  were  cramped  for  room,  and 
to  meet  the  new  demands  which  were  constantly  in- 
creasing in  number,  the  Minister  of  Marine  decided,  on 
January  28,  1874,  to  open  up  the  greater  portion  of  the 
reserve  zone  to  private  industry.  The  remainder  of 
this  zone,  positively  withheld  from  private  demands, 
comprises  exclusively  the  natural  beds  of  the  basin 
with  their  immediate  surroundings,  which  it  is  import- 
ant to  protect  against  all  intrusion,  as  the  prosperity  of 
the  parks  depended  upon  their  preservation.  In  pur- 
suance of  the  ministerial  decision  of  January  28,  the 
first  work  of  dividing  off  the  sections  for  distribution 
was  carried  on  during  the  year  1874;  a  decree  has 
just  been  issued  for  the  formation  of  728  new  parks, 
which,  added  to  the  1706  now  existing,  will  make  a 
total  of  2434  concessions  and  an  extent  of  6625  acres 
to  be  occupied  by  oyster  culture.  A  second  work 


g6  THE   OYSTER. 

of  the  same  character  has  just  terminated ;  a  third 
will  soon  follow. 

In  Morbihan  the  development  of  oyster  culture  is 
no  less  striking.  The  section  of  Vannes  contains 
nearly  200  oyster  parks,  while  that  of  Auray  will  soon 
have  300,  and  requests  are  still  coming  in.  Thus, 
persons  in  all  stations  in  life  .are  engaging  in  oyster 
culture,  either  by  investing  their  capital  in  it  or  by 
laboring  for  it.  Many  of  them  are  without  experience 
in  the  matter,  and  it  therefore  seems  proper  and  oppor- 
tune to  add  to  this  brief  historical  sketch  a  few  practi- 
cal remarks  concerning  the  processes  now  in  use  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  oyster.  A  knowledge  of  the 
processes  which  have  the  authority  of  success  will, 
perchance,  guide  inexperienced  oyster-culturists  in  the 
right  direction  and  prevent  mistakes;  it  may  also  in- 
cite others  who  are  still  indifferent  or  timid. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  instructive  lessons 
to  be  learned  from  this  history  of  oyster  farming  in 
France  is  that  private  industry  in  this  field,  as  in  all 
others,  can  accomplish  more  than  government  influ- 
ence, and  as  the  cultivation  of  private  farms  spreads, 
the  advisability  of  devoting  all  suitable  grounds  to  this 
use  becomes  more  and  more  apparent. 

Experience  the  world  over  teaches  that  the  most 
efficient  agent  for  the  -preservation  and  development  of 
natural  wealth  is  private  enterprise. 

The  opposition  in  Maryland  at  present  to  the  grant- 
ing of  any  natural  oyster-bed  to  private  holders  is  very 
strong  indeed,  but  little  insight  into  the  future  is 
needed  to  perceive  that  the  disappearance  of  this  feel- 
ing would  result  in  an  enormous  increase  in  the  pros- 
perity of  our  people. 


THE  OYSTER.  97 

OYSTER    FARMING    IN    AMERICA. 

The  American  system  of  oyster  farming,  which  pre- 
sents some  features  of  resemblance  to  the  French  sys- 
tem, and  also  many  differences,  has  grown  up  as  the 
result  of  private  enterprise,  without  any  help  or  any 
direct  encouragement  from  government. 

The  French  people  are  generally  held  to  be  the  orig- 
inators of  modern  oyster  farming,  but,  as  an  Ameri- 
can, I  take  pleasure  in  pointing  out  that  our  own  in- 
dustry, which  is  now  so  extensively  developed  in  Con- 
necticut, has  not  been  borrowed  from  France,  but  has 
grown  up  independently. 

Several  years  before  Coste  and  De  Bon  commenced 
their  experiments,  the  oystermen  of  East  River,  hav- 
ing observed  that  young  oysters  fastened  in  great 
numbers  upon  shells  which  were  placed  upon  the 
beds  at  the  spawning  season,  started  the  practice  of 
shelling  the  beds,  in  order  to  increase  the  supply,  and 
in  1 85 5,  or  three  years  before  Coste  represented  to  the 
French  Emperor  the  importance  of  similar  experi- 
ments, the  State  of  New  York  enacted  a  law  to  secure 
to  private  farmers  the  fruits  of  their  labor,  and  a  num- 
ber of  persons  engaged  in  the  new  industry  on  an  ex- 
tensive scale.  Among  these  pioneers  in  this  field  were 
Mr.  Fordham,  Capt.  Henry  Bell,  Mr.  Oliver  Cook,  Mr. 
Weed,  Mr.  Hawley  and  others. 

The  industry  has  grown  steadily  from  that  time, 
and  East  River  is  now  said  by  Ingersoll  to  be  the 
scene  of  the  most  painstaking  and  scientific  oyster  cul- 
ture in  the  United  States,  and  the  interest  and  import- 
ance of  the  subject  is  so  great  that  I  quote  the  whole 

5 


98  THE  OYSTER. 

of  Ingersoll's  account  of  its  origin,  development,  and 
present  methods : 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that,  whatever  was  the  date  of  its 
origin,  the  credit  of  first  truly  propagating  oysters  from 
seed  caught  upon  artificial  beds  or  prepared  recepta- 
cles, belongs  to  the  men  of  City  Island.  It  had  been 
a  matter  of  common  observation  that  any  object  tossed 
into  the  water  in  summer  became  covered  at  once 
with  infant  oysters.  The  sedges  along  the  edge  of  the 
marshes,  and  the  buoys,  stakes  and  wharf-piles  were 
similarly  clothed.  If  the  circumstances  were  favorable 
this  deposit  survived  the  winter,  and  the  next  spring 
the  youngsters  were  large  enough  to  be  taken  and 
transplanted.  It  was  only  a  short  step  in  logic,  there- 
fore, to  conclude  that  if  objects  were  thrown  thickly 
into  the  water  on  purpose  to  catch  the  floating  spawn, 
a  large  quantity  of  young  oysters  would  be  secured, 
and  could  be  saved  for  transplanting  at  very  slight 
expense.  The  next  question  was — What  would  best 
serve  the  purpose  ?  Evidently,  nothing  could  be  bet- 
ter than  the  shells  which,  year  by  year,  accumulated 
on  the  shore  from  the  season's  opening  trade.  They 
were  the  customary  resting-places  of  the  spawn,  and 
at  the  same  time  were  cheapest.  The  City  Island  oys- 
terman,  therefore,  began  to  save  his  shells  from  the 
lime-kiln  and  the  road-master,  and  to  spread  them  on 
the  bottom  of  the  bay,  hoping  to  save  some  of  the  oys- 
ter spawn  with  which  his  imagination  densely  crowded 
the  sea-water.  This  happened,  I  am  told,  more  than 
fifty  years  ago,  and  the  first  man  to  put  the'  theory  into 
practice,  it  is  remembered,  was  the  father  of  the  Ford- 
ham  Brothers,  who  still  pursue  the  business  at  City 


THE  OYSTER.  99 

* 

Island.  In  1855  Captain  Henry  Bell,  of  Bell's  Island, 
planted  shells  among  the  islands  off  the  mouth  of  Nor- 
walk  River,  and  a  short  time  after,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  new  law  of  1855,  recognizing  private^  prop- 
erty in  such  beds,  Mr.  Oliver  Cook,  of  Five  Mile 
River;  Mr.  Weed,  of  South  Norwalk;  Mr.  Hawley,  of 
Bridgeport,  and  others,  went  into  it  on  an  extensive 
scale.  Some  of  these  gentlemen  appear  never  to  have 
heard  of  any  previous  operations  of  this  sort.  Dis- 
covering it  for  themselves,  as  it  was  easy  and  natural 
to  do,  they  supposed  they  were  the  originators;  but  if 
any  such  credit  attaches  anywhere,  I  believe  it  belongs 
to  the  City  Island  men.  It  was  soon  discovered  that 
uniform  success  was  not  to  be  hoped  for,  and  the 
steady,  magnificent  crops  reaped  by  the  earliest 
planters  were  rarely  emulated.  Many  planters,  there- 
fore, distrusted  the  whole  scheme,  and  returned  to 
their  simple  transplanting  of  natural-bed  seed;  but 
others,  with  more  consistency,  set  at  work  to  improve 
their  chances  by  making  more  and  more  favorable  the 
opportunities  for  an  oyster's  egg  successfully  to  attach 
itself,  during  its  brief  natatory  life,  to  the  stool  pre- 
pared for  it,  and  afterward  to  live  to  an  age  when  it  was 
strong  enough  to  hold  its  own  against  the  weather. 
This  involved  a  closer  study  of  the  general  natural 
history  of  the  oyster. 

"  The  first  thing  found  out  was  that  the  floating 
spawn  would  not  attach  itself  to  or  '  set '  upon  any- 
thing which  had  not  a  clean  surface  ;  smoothness  did 
not  hinder — glass  bottles  were  frequently  coated  out- 
side and  in  with  young  shells — but  the  surface  of  the 
object  must  not  be  slimy.  It  was  discovered,  too, 


TOO  THE  OYSTER. 

that  the  half-sedimentary,  half-vegetable  deposit  of  the 
water,  coating  any  submerged  object  with  a  slippery 
film,  was  formed  with  marvelous  speed.  Thus  shells 
laid  down  a  very  few  days  before  thet  spawning-time 
of  the  oysters  sometimes  become  so  slimy  as  to  catch 
little  or  no  spawn,  no  matter  how  much  of  it  is  floating 
in  the  water  above  them.  This  taught  the  oystermen 
that  they  must  not  spread  their  shells  until  the  midst 
of  the  spawning  season  ;  that  one  step  was  gained 
when  they  ceased  spreading  in  May  and  waited  until 
July.  Now,  from  the  5th  to  I5th  of  that  month  is 
considered  the  proper  time,  and  no  shell-planting  is 
attempted  before  or  after." 

These  dates  are  for  the  waters  of  New  York.  In 
Maryland,  the  month  of  June  is  most  favorable  for  the 
attachment  of  spat.  The  date  varies,  however,  accord- 
ing to  the  locality,  the  depth  of  water,  the  character 
of  the  season  and  other  influences.  Good  judgment 
as  to  the  proper  time  for  shelling  the  bottom  can 
be  acquired  only  by  experience,  but  a  series  of  exact 
experiments  in  difTerent  parts  of  the  bay  would  be  of 
great  value,  as  they  would  afford  data  for  the  guidance 
of  private  cultivators. 

"  The  knowledge  of  the  speed  with  which  the  shells 
become  slimy  was  turned  to  account  in  another  way. 
It  was  evident  that  the  swifter  the  current  the  less 
would  there  be  a  chance  of  rapid  fouling.  Planters, 
therefore,  chose  their  ground  in  the  swiftest  tideways 
they  could  find." 

"  The  mere  manner  of  spreading  the  shells  was  also 
found  to  be  important.  If  they  are  rudely  dumped 
over,  half  their  good  is  wasted,  for  they  lie  in  heaps. 


TH&  t/l'SF££.    >  101 

The  proper  method  is  to  take  them  from  the  large 
scow  or  sloop  which  has  brought  them  ashore,  in 
small  boat-loads.  Having  anchored  the  skiff,  the 
shells  are  then  flirted  broadcast  in  all  directions,  by 
the  shovelful.  The  next  boat-load  is  anchored  a  little 
farther  on,  and  the  process  repeated.  Thus  a  thin 
and  evenly-distributed  layer  is  spread  over  the  whole 
ground.  Just  how  many  bushels  a  man  will  place  on 
an  acre  depends  upon  both  his  means  and  his  judg- 
ment. If  he  is  shelling  entirely  new  ground,  he  will 
spread  more  than  he  would  upon  an  area  already  im- 
proved;  but  I  suppose  250  bushels  to  the  acre  might 
be  recommended  as  an  average  quantity." 

This  is  very  much  too  small  a  quantity,  and  in  our 
waters,  five  or  six  times  as  many  shells,  from  1000  to 
1 200  bushels,  should  be  used. 

"  Having  spread  his  shells  in  midsummer,  the  planter, 
by  testing  them  early  in  the  fall,  can  tell  whether  he  has 
succeeded  in  catching  upon  them  any  or  much  of  the 
desired  spawn.  The  young  oysters  will  appear  as 
minute  flakes,  easily  detected  by  the  experienced  eye, 
attached  to  all  parts  of  the  old  shell.  If  he  has  got  no 
set  whatever,  he  considers  his  investment  a  total  loss, 
since  by  the  next  season  the  bed  of  shells  will  have 
become  so  dirty  that  the  spawn  will  not  take  hold  if  it 
comes  that  way.  Supposing,  on  the  contrary,  that 
young  oysters  are  found  attached  in  millions  to  his 
cultch,  as  often  happens,  crowding  upon  each  old 
shell  until  it  is  almost  hidden,  what  is  his  next  step? 

"  The  ordinary  way  in  the  East  River  and  else- 
where, is  simply  to  let  the  bed  remain  quiet,  until,  in 
the  course  of  three  or  four  years,  such  oysters  as  have 


102  'f&&  OYSTER. 

survived  are  large  enough  to  sell,  when  the  bed  is 
worked — at  first,  probably,  with  tongs  and  rakes,  get- 
ting up  the  thickest  of  the  crop.  This  done,  dredges 
are  put  on,  and  everything  that  remains— oysters, 
shells,  and  trash — is  removed  and  the  ground  left 
clean,  ready  for  a  second  shelling,  or  to  be  planted 
with  seed. 

"  In  the  process  of  growth  of  the  young  oysters 
lodged  upon  the  fields  of  cultch,  when  left  undis- 
turbed, there  is,  and  must  of  necessity  be,  a  great 
waste  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances.  Leav- 
ing out  all  other  adversities,  this  will  arise  from  over- 
crowding. More  'blisters  '  attach  themselves  upon  a 
single  shell  than  can  come  to  maturity.  One  or  a  few 
will  obtain  an  accession  of  growth  over  the  rest,  and 
crowd  the  others  down,  or  overlap  them  fatally.  Even 
if  a  large  number  of  young  oysters  attached  to  a  sin- 
gle stool  do  grow  up  together  equally,  their  close 
elbowing  of  one  another  will  probably  result  in  a 
closed,  crabbed  bunch  of  long,  slim,  unshapely  sam- 
ples, of  no  value  save  to  be  shucked.  To  avoid  these 
misfortunes,  and,  having  got  a  large  quantity  of  young 
growth,  to  save  as  much  as  possible  of  it,  the  more 
advanced  and  energetic  of  the  planters,  like  the  Hoyts, 
of  Norwalk,  pursue  the  following  plan :  When  the 
bed  is  two  years  old,  by  which  time  all  the  young  oys- 
ters are  of  sufficient  age  and  hardiness  to  bear  the 
removal,  coarse-netted  dredges  are  put  on,  and  all  the 
bunches  of  oysters  are  taken  up,  knocked  to  pieces, 
and  either  sold  as  '  seed,'  or  redistributed  over  a  new 
portion  of  bottom,  thus  widening  the  planted  area,  and 
at  the  same  time  leaving  more  room  for  those  single 


THE  OYSTER.  1 03 

oysters  to  grow  which  have  slipped  through  the  net 
and  so  escaped  the  dredge.  The  next  year  after,  all 
the  plantation,  new  and  old,  is  gone  over  and  suitable 
stock  culled  out  for  trade,  three-year  old  East  River 
oysters  being  in  demand  for  the  European  market. 
This  further  thins  out  the  beds,  and  the  following 
(fourth)  year  the  main  crop  of  fine,  well-shaped,  well- 
fed  oysters  will  be  taken,  and  during  the  succeeding 
summer,  or  perhaps  after  a  year,  the  ground  will  be 
thoroughly  well  cleaned  up  and  prepared  for  a  new 
shelling. 

"All  these  remarks  apply  to  a  reasonably  hard 
bottom  which  requires  no  previous  preparation.  In 
portions  of  Long  Island  Sound,  especially  off  New 
Haven,  it  has  been  needful  to  make  a  crust  or  artificial 
surface  upon  the  mud  before  laying  down  the  shells. 
This  is  done  with  sand,  and  has  been  alluded  to  in 
the  chapter  on  New  Haven  harbor. 

"  Just  what  makes  the  best  lodgment  for  oyster- 
spawn  intended  to  be  used  as  seed,  has  been  greatly 
discussed.  Oyster  shells  are  very  good,  certainly,  and 
as  they  are  cheap  and  almost  always  at  hand  in  even 
troublesome  quantities,  they  form  the  most  available 
cultch,  and  are  most  generally  used.  Small  gravel, 
however,  has  been  tried  on  parts  of  the  Connecticut 
coast  with  great  success,  the  advantage  being  that  not 
often  more  than  one  or  two  oysters  would  be  attached, 
and  therefore  the  evil  of  bunchiness  would  be  avoided. 
Where  scallop  shells,  as  in  Narragansett  Bay,  or,  as  in 
northern  New  Jersey  mussels  and  jingles,  Anomia,  can 
be  procured  in  sufficient  quantities,  they  are  undoubt- 
edly better  than  anything  else,  because  they  not  only 


104  THE  OYSTER. 

break  easily  in  culling,  but  are  so  fragile  that  the  strain 
of  the  growth  of  two  or  more  oysters  attached  to  a 
single  scallop  or  mussel-valve  will  often  crack  it  in 
pieces,  and  so  permit  the  several  members  of  the  bunch 
to  separate  and  grow  into  good  shape  singly.  I  am 
not  aware  that  any  of  the  elaborate  arrangements  made 
in  France  and  England  for  catching  and  preserving 
the  spat  have  ever  been  imitated  here,  to  any  practical 
extent.  The  time  will  come,  no  doubt,  when  we  shall 
be  glad  to  profit  by  this  foreign  example  and  ex- 
perience. 

"Although  the  effort  to  propagate  oysters  by  catch- 
ing drifting  spawn  upon  prepared  beds  has  been  tried 
nearly  everywhere  from  Sandy  Hook  to  Providence, 
it  has  only,  in  the  minority  of  cases,  perhaps  I  might 
say  a  small  minority  of  cases,  proved  a  profitable 
undertaking  to  those  engaging  in  it ;  and  many  planters 
have  abandoned  the  process,  or  at  least  calculated  but 
little  upon  any  prepared  beds,  in  estimating  the  prob- 
able income  of  the  prospective  season.  This  arises 
from  one  of  two  causes :  1st,  the  failure  of  spawn  to 
attach  itself  to  the  cultch  ;  or,  2d,  in  case  a  '  set '  occurs, 
a  subsequent  death  or  destruction. 

"  The  supposition  among  oystermen  generally  has 
been  that  the  water  everywhere  upon  the  coast  was 
filled,  more  or  less,  with  drifting  oyster-spat  during 
the  spawning  season,  whether  there  was  any  bed  of 
oysters  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  or  not.  In 
other  words,  that  there  was  hardly  any  limit  to  the  time 
and  distance  the  spat  would  drift  with  the  tides,  winds 
and  currents.  I  think  that  lately  this  view  has  been 
modified  by  most  fishermen,  and  I  am  certain  it  greatly 


THE  OYSTER.  10$ 

needs  modification ;  but,  as  a  consequence  of  the 
opinion,  it  was  believed  that  one  place  was  as  good  as 
another,  so  long  as  there  was  a  good  current  or  tideway 
there,  to  spread  shells  for  spawn,  whether  there  were 
any  living  oysters  in  proximity  or  not.  But  that  this 
view  was  fallacious,  and  that  many  acres  of  shells  have 
never  exhibited  a  single  oyster,  simply  because  there 
was  no  spat  or  sources  of  spat  in  their  vicinity,  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt. 

"  Having  learned  this,  planters  began  to  see  that 
they  must  place  with  or  near  their  beds  of  shells  living 
mother-oysters,  called  '  spawners,'  which  should  supply 
the  desired  spat.  This  is  done  in  two  ways — either  by 
laying  a  narrow  bed  of  old  oysters  across  the  tideway 
in  the  center  of  the  shelled  tract,  so  that  the  spawn,  as 
it  is  emitted,  may  be  carried  up  and  down  over  the 
breadth  of  shells  waiting  to  accommodate  it,  or  by 
sprinkling  spawners  all  about  the  ground,  at  the  rate 
of  about  ten  bushels  to  the  acre.  Under  these  arrange- 
ments, the  circumstances  must  be  rare  and  exceptional 
when  a  full  set  will  not  be  secured  upon  all  shells 
within,  say  twenty  rods  of  the  spawners.  Of  course 
fortunate  positions  may  be  found  where  spawn  is  pro- 
duced from  wild  oysters  in  abundance,  or  from  con- 
tiguous planted  beds,  where  the  distribution  of  special 
spawners  in  unnecessary ;  yet  even  then  it  may  be  said 
to  be  a  wise  measure. 

"  The  successful  capture  of  a  plenteous  '  set/  how- 
ever, is  not  all  of  the  game.  This  must  grow  to  sala- 
ble maturity  before  any  profits  can  be  gathered,  and  it 
so  often  happens  that  the  most  promising  beds  in  Sep- 
tember are  utterly  wrecked  by  January,  making  a  total 


106  THE   OYSTER. 

loss  of  all  the  money  and  labor  expended,  that  more 
than  one  planter  has  decided  that  it  does  not  pay  to 
attempt  to  raise  oysters  upon  shells,  so  long  as  he  is 
able  to  buy  and  stock  his  grounds  with  half-grown 
seed — a  decision  which  may  be  based  upon  sound 
reasoning  in  respect  to  certain  localities,  but  which 
certainly  will  not  apply  to  all  of  our  northern  coast. 

"  The  great  drawback  to  East  River  oyster-plant- 
ing, of  every  kind,  is  the  abundance  of  enemies  with 
which  the  beds  are  infested.  These  consist  of  drum- 
fish,  skates,  and,  to  a  small  degree,  of  various  other 
fishes;  of  certain  sponges  and  invertebrates  that  do 
slight  damage,  and  of  various  boring  molluscs,  the 
crushing  winkle,  and  the  insidious  star-fish  or  sea-star. 
It  is  the  last-named  plague  that  the  planter  dreads  the 
most,  and  the  directly  traceable  harm  it  does  amounts 
to  many  tens  of  thousands  of  dollars  annually  in  this 
district  alone.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  have  here  its  head- 
quarters on  the  American  oyster  coast,  where  it  has 
utterly  ruined  many  a  man's  whole  year's  work." 

Ingersoll  states  that  20  bushels  of  shells  laid  down 
anywhere  in  the  upper  part  of  Barnegat  Bay,  New 
Jersey,  will  produce  100  bushels  of  seed  oysters,  but 
that  there  is  no  protection  for  this  industry,  as  popu- 
lar construction  makes  such  beds  "  natural  ground." 

At  Brookham  Bay,  off  the  south  coast  of  Long 
Island,  in  the  region  of  the  well-known  "blue  point" 
oysters,  it  has  been  the  custom  for  several  years  to  lay 
down  shells,  scrap-tin,  etc.,  for  the  attachment  of  the 
young,  and  when  this  is  done  near  any  oyster-bed,  or 
whenever  spawning  oysters  are  planted  among  the 
shells,  there  is  rarely  a  failure  to  get  plenty  of  young. 


THE  OYSTER.  IO/ 

The  Delaware  planters  often  find  that  after  a  bottom 
has  been  used  for  many  years  for  planting,  the  young 
oysters  grow  upon  the  shells  which  gradually  accumu- 
late, and  a  very  valuable  artificial  oyster-bed  is  thus 
established.  The  law-abiding  citizens  respect  the  pri- 
vate ownership  of  these  beds,  and  they  are  a  source  of 
wealth  to  their  possessor. 

I  quote  from  the  "  Report  of  the  Shell-Fish  Com- 
missioners," of  Connecticut,  for  1883,  the  following 
statement  of  the  present  condition  of  the  industry  in 
that  State : 

"  The  deep-water  cultivators  proceed  in  three  differ- 
ent ways  to  make  beds.  (i).  The  bottom  being  prop- 
erly cleared  off,  the  seed  oysters,  mixed  with  the 
gravel,  jingles  and  other  shells  just  as  they  are  gathered 
from  the  natural  beds,  are  distributed  thereon  more  or 
less  uniformly,  and  there  left  to  grow.  (2).  Or  the 
bottom  is  spread  over  with  clean  oyster  shells  just  be- 
fore the  spawning  season  begins,  and  brood  oysters, 
twenty-five  bushejs  to  the  acre,  are  distributed  over 
the  bed.  (3).  Or,  if  the  bed  is  in  the  neighborhood  of 
natural  beds,  the  shelled  bed  is  left  without  further 
preparation  to  catch  the  spawn  as  it  is  drifted  above  it. 
Sometimes  the  shells  fail  to  '  catch  a  set,'  and  this 
makes  it  necessary  to  rake  over  the  shells  the  follow- 
ing year,  or  to  cover  them  over  with  more  fresh  shells 
for  the  next  spawning.  There  is  always  an  abund- 
ance of  spawn  in  the  waters  of  the  Sound,  and  when  a 
set  is  secured  an  enormous  crop  is  the  result.  On  a 
private  deep-water  bed,  during  the  past  summer,  the 
dredge  was  drawn  at  random  in  the  presence  of  the 
commissioners,  and  from  an  ordinary-size  shovelful 


108  THE  OYSTER. 

there  were  counted  206  young  oysters  in  excellent 
condition,  of  the  average  size  of  a  quarter  of  a  dollar. 
As  many  as  a  hundred  young  oysters  have  been 
counted  growing  on  a  medium-sized  oyster  shell. 

"The  beds  are  carefully  tended,  and  no  pains  are 
spared  to  kill  all  the  enemies  of  the  oysters  found 
among  them.  By  continual  vigilance  the  private  beds 
are  kept  comparatively  free  from  them.  The  larger 
proprietors  of  deep-water  beds  use  steamers  for  this 
work,  as  also  in  doing  their  work  of  planting,  raking 
over  and  dredging,  and  they  use  larger  dredges  than 
the  sail  vessels  can,  as  they  are  also  worked  by  steam 
at  a  great  saving  of  labor  and  expense.  When  the 
oysters  have  grown  on  these  beds  to  a  merchantable 
size  they  are  sometimes  sold  directly  from  the  beds, 
but  more  frequently  they  are  transplanted  into  brackish 
or  fresh  waters,  where  they  are  permitted  to  remain 
for  a  short  period  to  freshen  and  fatten  for  market. 

"The  foregoing  table  affords  the  ground  for  the 
assumption  that  by  the  time  of  the  opening  of  spring 
work,  in  1883,  45,000  acres  of  ground  will  have  been 
deeded  to  applicants  by  the  Commissioners.  These, 
with*  the  45,000  acres  deeded  by  the  towns  prior  to 
May,  1 88 1,  will  show  an  aggregate  of  90,000  acres 
held  by  cultivators  under  state  jurisdiction. 

"  Of  this  vast  area,  a  large  portion  has  been  cleared 
up  and  shelled.  One  firm  has  laid  down  250,000 
bushels  of  shells.  Several  large  growers  have  laid 
down  as  many  as  200,000  bushels  each.  A  still  larger 
number  have  scattered  a  hundred  thousand,  fifty 
thousand  and  twenty  thousand  each.  There  are  about 
30  steamers  engaged  in  the  business,  besides  a  very 


THE  OYSTER.  1 09 

large  number  of  sailing  vessels.  Shells  that  but  a  few 
years  ago  were  almost  worthless,  have  increased  in 
value,  and  are  sought  after  far  and  near.  It  is  esti- 
mated by  competent  judges  that  the  number  of  acres 
imder  cultivation  is  at  least  double  what  it  was  one 
year  ago.  With  trifling  exceptions,  good  sets  have 
been  secured  upon  the  beds,  and,  if  no  unusual  acci- 
dents occur,  the  crop  the  next  two  years  will  be  enor- 
mous. One  cultivator  alone  looks  for  no  less  than 
1,000,000  bushels  of  marketable  natives  from  his  own 
grounds.  Several  other  growers,  individuals  and 
companies,  are  looking  for  large  crops,  and  all  are 
planning  to  still  further  extend  their  farms. 

"  It  does  not  admit  of  a  doubt  that  the  business  of 
oyster-growing  as  carried  on  in  the  waters  of  the 
Sound,  is  exceedingly  profitable." 

The  Connecticut  oystermen  have  many  obstacles 
and  risks,  from  which  our  own  waters  are  free,  and 
many  of  the  farms  have  been  completely  ruined  by 
starfish  and  other  enemies,  but  notwithstanding  all 
these  drawbacks,  the  crop,  which  was  336,000  bushels 
in  1880,  had  increased  in  1888  to  1,454,000  bushels. 

During  the  period  of  his  employment  by  the  French 
Government  to  replenish  the  oyster  grounds,  Coste 
devised  a  number  of  plans  for  furnishing  an  attach- 
ment for  the  oyster  spat,  and  these  devices  have  been 
greatly  improved  by  other  experimenters. 

Most  of  them  could  be  employed  in  our  own  waters 
with  advantage,  and  in  order  to  make  our  people 
acquainted  with  them,  we  will  give  a  brief  description 
of  the  more  important  substances  which  have  been 
thus  employed.  Some  of  them  are  adapted  for  certain 


1 10  THE  OYSTER. 


PLATE  VII. 

FIGURE  2.  An  oyster  shell  upon  the  inside  of 
which  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  young  oysters  have 
fastened  themselves.  This  is  one  from  the  lot  of  shells 
which  were  sold  by  Mr.  Church,  of  Crisfield,  from  the 
pile  of  shells  at  his  packing-house,  to  an  oyster  farmer 
in  Long  Island  Sound.  Mr.  Church  visited  the  farm 
five  weeks  after  the  shells  were  shipped,  and  took  up 
a  number  of  the  shells,  and  he  states  that  the  one 
which  is  here  figured  is  a  fair  sample. 

FIGURE  i.  A  pipe,  upon  the  bowl  of  which  six 
oysters  have  grown ;  from  the  Chesapeake  Bay. 


FHE   OYSTER 


PLATE  VII. 


A.HnEn  &  CD.LithDcaustic.Baltimm'E. 


THE  OYSTER.  Ill 

localities,  while  others  can  be  used  to  best  advantage 
under  other  conditions.  Our  people  have  long  been 
noted  for  their  ingenuity,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that, 
as  the  great  importance  of  oyster-farming  comes  to  be 
appreciated  among  us,  we  shall  have  many  great  im- 
provements in  the  methods  of  procuring  seed  oysters, 
better  adapted  for  our  own  needs  than  any  which  are 
here  described,  but  our  account  will  serve  to  show 
our  people  the  general  direction  in  which  their  inven- 
tive skill  must  be  directed. 

Oyster  Shells. — At  present  no  spat-collector  seems 
to  be  better  adapted  for  use  in  our  waters  upon  hard 
bottoms  than  oyster  shells,  and  they  are  now  the 
cheapest  collectors  that  can  be  used. 

In  order  to  serve  this  purpose  the  shells  must  be 
perfectly  clean,  and  as  the  old  dead  shells,  which 
have  lain  for  a  long  time  upon  the  oyster-beds,  are 
torn  to  pieces  by  the  boring  sponge  and  covered  with 
mud  and  slime,  hydrioids,  sea-weed  and  sponges,  they 
are  much  less  effective  than  those  which  are  placed  in 
the  water  just  before  the  spawning  season. 

In  regions  where  there  is  no  danger  from  frost,  or 
where  the  young  growth  is  to  be  planted  in  deeper 
water  before  winter,  the  shells  may  be  deposited  at  or 
even  above  low-water  mark,  and  in  the  sounds  of 
North  Carolina  oysters  thrive  even  at  high-tide  mark. 
The  shells  should  be  deposited  in  the  early  summer — 
in  June,  July  and  August — in  localities  where  there  is 
enough  current  to  sweep  the  swimming  young  past 
them.  A  hard  bottom  is  to  be  preferred,  but  this 
method  may  be  employed  with  great  advantage  upon 
any  soft  bottoms  which  are  near  the  surface.  In  this 


112  THE   OYSTER. 

case  the  shells  should  not  be  uniformly  distributed, 
but  placed  in  piles  or  ridges.  If  these  ridges  are 
properly  arranged  with  reference  to  the  direction  of 
the  current,  they  will  produce  secondary  currents,  and 
will  thus  cause  the  soft  mud  to  flow  off  between  them. 
In  this  way  any  bottom  which  is  bare  or  nearly  bare 
at  low  tide,  and  which  is  exposed  to  the  winds  and 
waves,  may  in  time  be  swept  nearly  clear  of  mud. 
Each  time  the  tide  comes  in  the  mud  is  stirred  up  and 
suspended  in  the  water,  and  as  the  tide  ebbs  this  sus- 
pended matter  is  swept  into  the  channels  between  the 
obstructions  and  is  carried  away.  Shells  are  very 
effective  as  spat-collectors.  Shell  wharves  built  out 
into  deep  water,  so  as  to  catch  and  turn  the  passing 
current,  are  often  found  to  be  covered  with  young  oys- 
ters at  all  stages  of  growth  and  in  good  condition  for 
planting. 

The  month  of  June  is  usually  the  best  time  for 
shelling  the  bottom.  The  early  part  of  the  month  for 
warm  seasons  and  shallow  water,  and  the  end  of  the 
month  for  cold  springs,  or  for  deep  water.  The 
quantity  of  shells  varies  according  to  circumstances, 
but  in  most  cases  1000  bushels  to  the  acre  are  not 
too  many. 

In  shallow  waters,  where  the  shells  are  uncovered  at 
low  tide,  they  may  be  examined  to  pick  out,  for  distri- 
bution upon  the  planting  grounds,  those  which  have 
young  oysters  upon  them,  but  in  deeper  waters  the 
shells  must  be  picked  up  with  tongs  or  dredges,  or 
they  may  be  strung  upon  wires  and  sunk  in  deep 
water  on  suitable  frames. 

The  chief  objection  to  the  use  of  shells   is  that  the 


THE  OYSTER.  113 

method  is  a  wasteful  one.  It  is  not  unusual  for  fifty 
or  a  hundred  young  oysters  to  fasten  upon  one  shell, 
and  as  the  shells  are  too  strong  to  be  broken  without 
injuring  the  young  oysters,  these  cannot  be  detached, 
and  most  of  them  are  soon  crowded  out  and  killed  by 
the  growth  of  the  others. 

The  use  of  tiles  has,  therefore,  been  introduced  in 
France  to  avoid  this  loss. 

As  tiles  can  be  employed  without  difficulty  in  deep 
water,  they  are  well  adapted  for  use  in  our  bay.  Those 
which  are  used  in  France  are  much  like  a  common 
drain  pipe  sawed  in  two  longitudinally.  They  cannot 
be  obtained  in  our  markets  at  present,  although  they 
could  be  made  very  cheaply  if  there  were  any  demand 
for  them.  Each  tile  is  about  1 8  inches  or  2  feet  long, 
6  or  8  inches  wide,  concave  on  one  side  and  convex 
on  the  other.  The  shape  of  the  tile  is  important,  as 
nearly  all  the  oysters  fasten  themselves  upon  the  con- 
cave surface.  They  adhere  so  firmly  that  it  is  difficult 
to  detach  them  without  injury,  and  to  avoid  this  the 
French  oyster-breeders  coat  the  tiles  with  a  thin  white- 
wash, which  can  be  scaled  off  with  the  young  oysters 
when  these  are  large  enough  to  be  distributed  upon 
the  planting  grounds. 

The  following  is  an  account  of  the  method  of  coat- 
ing the  tiles  as  employed  in  France: 

The  liming  is  done  in  two  very  different  ways  at 
Morbihan,  according  to  whether  it  is  intended  to  en- 
tirely free  the  oysters  from  the  tile,  or  to  allow  a  por- 
tion of  the  tile  to  remain  attached  to  each  shell. 

When  we  come  to  speak  of  the  removal  of  the  oys- 
ters from  the  collectors,  we  will  make  some  remarks 


114  THE  OYSTER. 

concerning  the  matter  of  leaving  a  portion  of  the  tile 
attached  to  the  young.  For  the  present  we  will 
merely  state  that  under  that  system  the  tile  is  cut, 
leaving  a  portion  adhering  to  each  oyster,  forming  a 
sort  of  heel. 

Some  of  our  culturists,  who  breed  oysters  in  this 
manner,  cover  their  tiles  with  a  slight  coating  of 
hydraulic  cement.  The  young  oyster  attaches  itself 
to  the  cement,  but  the  coating  being  very  thin  is  soon 
worn  away,  leaving  the  oyster  quite  firmly  fixed  to 
the  tile. 

Others,  on  the  contrary,  who,  six  months  after  the 
collectors  have  been  set,  prefer  to  separate  the  oysters 
entirely  from  the  tile  with  the  blade  of  a  knife,  gener- 
ally cover  the  tile  with  two  layers,  and  proceed  in  a 
different  manner. 

Quicklime  is  slacked  just  before  it  is  to  be  used,  and 
is  put,  while  still  in  a  state  of  ebullition,  into  a  large 
vat,  where  two-thirds  the  same  quantity  of  sand  have 
been  placed.  The  mixture  is  stirred  until  it  has  at- 
tained the  consistency  of  clear  broth.  The  collectors, 
held  by  the  lower  end,  are  dipped  into  the  vat.  One 
immersion  suffices,  after  which  they  are  taken  in  hand- 
barrows  and  exposed  to  the  air  to  dry  before  setting 
them  up.  This  excellent  coating  should  be  prepared 
with  fresh  water  only;  sea-water  prevents  its  adhering 
for  any  length  of  time  to  the  tiles,  and  if  it  comes  off 
the  labor  is  of  course  lost.  After  this  coating  of  lime 
has  hardened,  the  tiles  are  dipped  a  second  time  into 
a  bath  of  hydraulic  cement,  after  which  they  are  ready 
for  use. 

Tiles  may  be  used  as  spat-collectors  in  either  deep 


THE   OYSTER.  115 

or  shallow  water.  On  the  French  coast  they  are 
chiefly  employed  above  low-tide  mark  or  in  very  shal- 
low water,  and  they  are  then  spread  out  so  as  to 
cover  a  considerable  area.  In  some  cases  lines  of 
stakes  are  driven  into  the  ground,  about  a  foot  apart, 
transverse  string-pieces  are  fastened  to  them  about  a 
foot  above  the  bottom,  a  row  of  tiles  is  laid  upon 
them,  concave  surface  down,  another  row  of  tiles  is 
placed  at  right  angles  upon  the  first  layer,  and  the 
whole  is  weighted  with  stones.  Other  ways  of  arrang- 
ing the  tiles  are  shown  in  Figs.  5,  6,  and  7. 

As  soon  as  the  oysters  are  large  enough  to  handle, 
they  should  be  removed  from  the  tiles  and  distributed 
on  the  planting  ground,  for  they  usually  become  so 
crowded  together  on  the  tiles  that  they  have  no  room 
to  grow. 

When  used  in  deep  water  they  may  be  fastened  to 
a  frame,  which  may  be  sunk  upon  or  near  a  natural 
oyster-bed.  So  far  as  I  am  informed,  Lieut.  Francis 
Winslow  is  the  only  person  who  has  ever  made  use 
of  tile-collectors  in  American  waters,  but  the  remark- 
able results  which  he  obtained  with  them  in  Tangier 
Sound,  in  1879,  show  that  they  are  well  suited  for 
use  in  the  waters  of  the  bay,  where  they  are  perfectly 
successful  as  spat-collectors. 

Lieut.  Winslow's  interesting  figures  of  these  tiles 
form  the  most  complete  record  of  the  rate  of  growth 
of  oysters  in  the  Chesapeake  Bay  which  has  ever  been 
obtained,  and  his  results  are  so  valuable  that  I  have 
copied  six  of  his  plates.  He  made  use  of  a  collector 
which  was  made  by  lashing  eight  or  sixteen  tiles  to  a 
wooden  frame,  which  rested  on  the  bottom  upon  a 


II 6  THE 

natural  bed  of  oysters,  while  the  tiles  themselves 
were  raised  about  six  inches,  and  were  joihed  by  a 
rope  to  a  floating  buoy  to  mark  their  position.  An 
apparatus  of  this  sort  was  sunk  in  Big  Annamessex 
River  on  July  9,  and  on  August  2,  348  young  oysters 
were  counted  on  one  tile,  which  is  shown  in  Plates 
VIII  and  IX.  On  October  10,  most  of  these  had 
grown  to  a  size  of  three-quarters  of  an  inch,  as  shown 
in  Plates  XII  and  XIII. 

Attempts  to  collect  spat  by  artificial  means  are  not 
always  successful,  and  experience  has  shown  that 
clean  collectors  are  essential,  and  that  failure  is  usu- 
ually  due  to  the  presence  of  mud  or  other  sediment 
upon  their  surface.  As  this  sediment  accumulates 
very  rapidly,  and  as  an  extremely  thin  layer  is  enough 
to  prevent  the  young  oysters  from  becoming  firmly 
fastened,  it  is  important  that  the  shells  or  other  sub- 
stances which  are  employed  be  perfectly  clean,  and 
that  they  be  not  put  into  the  water  until  spawning 
has  commenced. 

I  have  made  many  experiments  in  order  to  discover 
the  conditions  which  are  most  favorable  for  a  good 
"set"  of  spat,  and  I  have  satisfied  myself  that  those 
collectors  are  most  reliable  which  are  nearest  the  sur- 
face of  the  water.  They  are  much  less  exposed  to 
deposits  of  sediment  than  those  in  deeper  water,  and 
my  studies  upon  the  embryology  of  the  oyster  have 
shown  that  as  soon  as  the  embryo  begins  to  swim  it 
comes  to  the  surface,  and  swims  for  about  two  days 
within  half  an  inch  of  the  top.  I  have  been  very  suc- 
cessful with  floating  collectors,  and  in  Plate  XIV  I 
have  figured  a  boulder  which  had  been  for  six  weeks 


FIG.  5. 


FIG.  6. 


FIG.  7. 


Il8  THE  OYSTER. 


PLATES  VIII,  IX,  X,  XI,  XII,  XIII. 

(Tiles  which  were  deposited  in  the  Little  Annamessex  River 
by  Lieut.  Francis  Winslow,  U.  S.  N.,  on  July  9,  1879,  f°r  the 
collection  of  oyster  spat.  From  Winslow's  Report  on  the  Oyster 
Beds  of  Tangier  and  Pokamoke  Sounds.) 

PLATES  VIII  AND  IX. — Upper  and  lower  surfaces  of 
a  tile  which  was  removed  on  August  2,  twenty-four 
days  after  it  had  been  placed  in  the  water. 

PLATES  X  AND  XL — Upper  and  lower  surfaces  of  a 
tile  which  was  removed  on  August  23,  forty-five  days 
after  it  had  been  placed  in  the  water. 

PLATES  XII  AND  XIII. — Upper  and  lower  surfaces 
of  a  tile  which  was  removed  on  October  10,  about 
three  months  after  it  had  been  placed  in  the  water. 


THE   OV.STER 


PLATE  VIII 


A.Hnen  &  Co.Lithncaustic.BaltimarE . 


THE   OVSTER 


PLATE  IX. 


A.HnEn&Co.Lithncaustic.BahimnrE. 


THE  OVSTER 


PLATE  X. 


i      V    -.    A.HnEP!tC(;.Lithacaustic,BahimnrE. 


THE   OYSTER 


PLATE  XL 


A.Hnan  SttvlhhDcaustic.BallimnrE 


THE  OVSTER 


PLATE  XII 


THE   OVSTER 


PLATE   XIII. 


\A.A*lD«il£Ca.Lithacaustic,BartimnrE. 


THE  OYSTER.  I IQ 

in  one  of  them,  a  few  inches  from  the  surface,  and  had 
furnished  a  lodgment  for  many  hundred  oysters, 
crowded  so  closely  together  that  I  was  unable  to 
count  them. 

It  frequently  happens  that  bottoms  where  the  spat 
may  be  present  in  the  water,  are  so  muddy  that  such  col- 
lectors as  tiles  or  shells  cannot  be  used.  The  French 
have  invented  a  collector  to  be  used  in  such  cases  as 
this,  which  they  call  the  fascine  collector.  This  con- 
sists of  a  bundle  or  fagot  of  small  branches  of  chest- 
nut, oak,  elm,  birch,  or  any  other  suitable  wood,  about 
ten  or  twelve  feet  long,  bound  together  in  the  middle 
by  a  tarred  galvanized  iron  wire,  which  is  fastened  to 
a  stone,  byN  which  the  bundle  is  anchored  about  a  foot 
above  the  bottom.  These  fascines  are  placed  upon  or 
near  the  beds  of  oysters  at  the  spawning  season,  and 
are  distributed  in  places  where  the  set  of  the  tides  and 
currents  will  carry  the  swimming  oyster  larvae  to 
them.  The  young  oysters  settle  upon  the  branches 
in  great  numbers,  and  attaching  themselves,  grow 
rapidly,  and  it  is  not  unusual  for  one  such  fagot  to 
yield  several  thousand.  The  bundles  aje  left  undis- 
turbed for  five  or  six  months,  and  at  the  end  of  this 
time  they  are  large  enough  to  be  detached  from  the 
branches,  when  they  are  ready  for  distribution  upon 
the  planting  grounds. 

This  method  of  collecting  seed  oysters  has  never, 
so  far  as  I  am  aware,  been  employed  in  this  country, 
although  the  experience  of  all  who  are  familiar  with 
our  oyster  waters  must  have  shown  how  readily  the 
young  growth  become  attached  to  floating  or  sunken 
bushes.  Our  waters  abound  in  places  which  are  well 


120  THE   OYSTEK. 


PLATE  XIV. 
Spat  six  weeks  old,  from  a  floating  collector. 


THE  OYSTER.  121 

fitted  for  the  employment  of  this  method  of  gathering 
the  seed  which  is  to  be  used  in  planting,  and  the  fas- 
cine collectors  might  be  used  in  the  mouths  of  creeks 
or  inlets,  or  along  the  edges  of  the  channels,  or  any- 
where where  the  set  of  the  current  will  sweep  the 
swimming  oysters  past  the  collector.  While  it  would 
be  advantageous  to  place  the  collectors  near  natural 
beds  or  rocks,  this  is  by  no  means  essential,  for  the 
young  of  the  American  oyster  survive  for  a  long 
time  in  the  water,  and  they  are  carried  to  great  dis- 
tances by  the  current,  and  there  is  no  part  of  our  oys- 
ter area  beyond  the  reach  of  this  floating  spat. 

The  method  may  be  employed  on  either  hard  or 
soft  bottom,  as  the  collectors  float  above  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  but  is  especially  adapted  for  bottoms  too 
soft  for  planting,  and  such  bottoms  may  in  this  way 
be  made  valuable  as  seed  farms.  The  collectors  may 
be  placed  in  either  deep  or  shallow  water,  wherever 
there  is  a  current. 

With  the  exception  of  Winslow's  experiments  with 
tiles,  very  little  use  has  been  made  in  America  of  any- 
thing, except  oyster  shells,  for  collecting  spat ;  but  at 
one  point  in  Connecticut,  a  plan  which  is  essentially 
like  the  one  last  described  has  been  used  with  good 
results  for  capturing  spat,  and  for  rearing  marketable 
oysters  as  well,  upon  bottoms  of  soft  mud. 

These  experiments  are  thus  described  in  the  reports 
of  the  Connecticut  Shell  Fish  Commission  for  1882 
and  1883: 

"  The  soft,  muddy  tracts,  also,  which  aggregate  a 
large  number  of  acres  now  neglected,  it  is  believed  will, 
at  no  far  distant  day,  become  valuable  for  cultivation. 


122  THE   OYSTER. 

"  The  efforts  made  to  grow  oysters  on  muddy  bot- 
toms in  the  Poquonock  River,  near  Groton,  to  which 
reference  was  made  in  the  last  year's  report,  have 
been  uniformly  successful,  as  many  as  a  thousand 
bushels  of  superior  oysters  having  been  obtained  from 
one  acre.  No  particular  skill  is  required  in  carrying 
on  similar  experiments,  and  it  is  probable  that  the 
method  will  be  generally  followed  throughout  the 
State,  where  similar  bottoms  are  found. 

"Artificial  methods  for  catching  spawn  have  re- 
ceived little  attention  from  Connecticut  oyster  grow- 
ers, except  in  the  case  at  Groton  hereinafter  men- 
tioned. They  are  employed  in  a  variety  of  ways  in 
Europe ;  clean  bushes  and  fagots  are  anchored  or 
hung  on  chains  in  the  vicinity  of  spawning  beds, 
where  the  prevailing  currents  will  carry  the  floating 
spawn  to  them.  In  this  way  immense  quantities  are 
caught,  and  left  to  grjow  until  ready  for  planting. 
Clean  earthen  tiles,  made  for  the  purpose,  are  als'o 
placed  on  and  near  the  spawning  grounds  to  catch 
the  spat,  and  they  serve  better  than  anything  else  for 
this  purpose.  Another  method  is  that  of  raising  a 
mound  of  rocks  and  gravel,  about  the  time  of  spawn- 
ing, and  covering  its  surface  with  ripe  brood  oysters  ; 
around  the  mound  are  driven  stout  stakes  or  piles, 
close  together,  so  that  the  floating  spat  cannot  easily 
escape;  being  thus  intercepted,  spat  adheres  to  the 
stakes,  and  is  there  left  until  ready  for  planting. 

"  On  the  Poquonock  River,  near  Groton,  white 
birch  bushes  are  stuck  in  the  river  mud,  about  spawn- 
ing time,  in  fourteen  or  fifteen  feet  of  water  at  low 
tide.  To  these  the  spat  adheres  in  great  quantities. 


THE  OYSTER.  12$ 

They  are  left  undisturbed  eighteen  months,  by  which 
time  the  set  becomes  good-sized  seed;  On  one  bush, 
which  was  four  inches  through  at  the  butt,  twenty-five 
bushels  of  oysters  were  found,  seven  of  which  were 
large  enough  for  market.  The  average  yield  is  about 
five  bushels  to  the  bush.  The  grounds  are  so  soft  and 
muddy  that  no  other  method  is  feasible.  About  fifty 
acres  are  under  this  kind  of  cultivation,  and  the  area 
is  rapidly  extending.  The  bushes  are  grappled  out 
of  the  mud  by  derricks.  The  oysters  are  of  excellent 
flavor,  and  the  business  is  profitable." 

Besides  such  simple  but  very  effective  devices  for 
collecting  spat,  there  have  been  invented  in  France  a 
number  of  complicated  mechanical  devices  for  use 
under  peculiar  circumstances.  The  price  of  oysters 
in  our  State  is  not  high  enough  to  justify  the  practical 
use  of  any  such  expensive  machinery,  so  it  will  be 
unnecessary  to  speak  of  any  of  it. 

The  aim  of  all  the  methods  of  oyster  culture  which 
have  been  described  is  to  increase  the  number  of  oys- 
ters, by  furnishing  proper  substances  for  collecting  the 
swimming  embryos  at  the  time  when  they  are  ready 
to  attach  themselves.  In  our  waters,  clean  oyster  shells 
are  in  nearly  all  cases  the  best  substances  to  use  for 
the  purpose,  and  there  is  hardly  a  spot  anywhere  in 
the  bay  which  might  not  be  converted  into  an  oyster- 
bed  by  this  simple  method  of  cultivation,  which  has 
been  shown,  in  all  parts  of  the  world  where  it  has  been 
tried,  to  yield  a  very  great  return  for  the  capital  and 
labor  employed. 

There  are  few  parts  of  the  world  which  offer  ad- 
vantages for  the  prosecution  of  this  industry  equal 


124  THE  OYSTER. 

to  those  afforded  by  the  bay,  and  there  is  no  other 
place  where  these  advantages  are  presented  on  such  a 
great  area  of  bottom.  Our  oyster  grounds,  of  course, 
vary  in  value,  according  to  local  conditions,  and  oyster 
culture  is  much  more  easy  and  profitable  in  some 
places  than  in  others ;  but  in  course  of  time  even  the 
soft,  muddy  bottoms  of  the  deepest  channels  may  'be 
brought  under  cultivation,  and  there  is  scarcely  a 
foot  of  the  bottom  where  oysters  cannot  be  reared. 
The  number  of  oysters  which  the  bay  might  be  made 
to  furnish  annually  is  almost  too  great  for  computa- 
tion, but  we  may  very  safely  assert  that  it  is  greater 
than  the  total  number  which  have  been  taken  from  our 
waters  in  the  past. 

All  that  is  needed  in  order  to  make  this  great 
source  of  wealth  available  to  our  people,  is  permission 
to  engage  in  oyster  culture.  When  the  citizens  of 
Maryland  demand  the  right  to  enter  into  this  industry, 
and  to  reclaim  their  property  which  is  now  going  to 
waste,  a  new  era  of  prosperity  will  be  introduced,  and 
the  oyster  area  will  be  developed  with  great  rapidity. 

I  have  shown  that  upon  undredged  natural  beds 
solid  substances  become  so  thickly  covered  with  young 
oysters  that  they  have  no  room  to  grow,  so  that  most 
of  them  are  soon  crowded  out  and  killed. 

All  localities  are  not  equally  favorable  for  the  col- 
lection of  spat,  and  in  the  best  places  the  amount 
which  can  be  collected  each  season  is  very  much 
greater  than  the  amount  which  it  needed  for  stocking 
the  bottom.  This  excess  can  be  profitably  used  as 
"seed "for  stocking  bottoms  in  shallow,  landlocked 
bays,  rivers,  and  other  places  which  are  less  fitted  for 


THE  OYSTER.  125 

the  collection  of  spat.  While  oyster-planting,  as  the 
sowing  of  these  "  seed  "  oysters  is  called,  does  not 
result  in  the  production  of  new  oysters,  it  is  a  very 
profitable  industry,  and  it  admits  of  great  develop- 
ment. 

The  profits  are  smaller  and  the  labor  greater  than 
those  of  oyster  culture  in  deep  water,  but  oyster-plant- 
ing requires  little  capital,  and  the  shores  of  the  bay 
abound  in  proper  spots  for  the  prosecution  of  this  in- 
dustry, the  importance  of  which  has  long  been  recog- 
nized by  our  people. 

There  are  many  bottoms  where  there  are  no  natural 
oysters,  simply  because  there  is  nothing  upon  the 
ground  for  the  spat  to  catch  upon,  or  because  they 
are  not  places  to  which  spat  is  carried  ;  and  there  are 
other  bottoms  which  are  so  soft  that  a  very  young  and 
small  oyster  would  be  buried  in  the  mud  and  killed, 
although  larger  ones  are  able  to  live  and  thrive  in  the 
mud.  In  all  these  places  oyster-planting  may  be 
carried  on  with  profit,  for  while  it  is  true  that  the  total 
number  of  oysters  which  are  born  is  not  increased  by 
planting,  the*number  which  reach  maturity  is  greatly 
increased;  for  the  young  oysters  fasten  themselves  so 
close  togetlfer  and  in  such  great  numbers  that  the 
growth  of  one  involves,  under  natural  conditions,  the 
crowding  out  and  destruction  of  hundreds  of  others, 
which  might  have  been  saved  by  scattering  them  over 
unoccupied  ground. 

Planting  also  adds  very  greatly  to  the  value  of  oys- 
ters, as  they  grow  more  rapidly  and  are  of  better 
quality  when  thus  scattered  than  they  are  upon  the 
natural  beds,  and  Ingersoll,  in  his  "  Report  on  the  Oys- 


126  THE  OYSTER. 

ter  Industry  of  the  United  States,"  quotes  the  state- 
ment of  Captain  Cox,  of  New  Jersey,  that  thirteen 
dollars'  worth  of  small  "  seed  "  oysters  yielded,  after 
they  had  been  planted  for  two  years,  oysters  which 
were  sold  for  $i  1 1,  besides  about  thirty  bushels  which 
were  used  as  food  by  the  planter's  family. 

Oyster-planting  can  be  carried  on  only  on  private 
grounds,  and  it  cannot  flourish  in  a  community  which 
does  not  respect  the  right  of  the  private  owner  to  the 
oysters  which  he  has  planted. 

The  "  five-acre  law  "  of  Maryland  puts  it  within  the 
power  of  any  resident  of  the  State  to  obtain  land  for 
this  purpose,  but  the  industry  has  never  attained  to 
much  importance  here,  partly  on  account  of  the 
absence  of  sufficient  protection,  and  partly  no  doubt 
through  the  feeling  that  our  large  and  apparently 
inexhaustible  natural  beds  render  private  enterprise 
unnecessary. 

In  Virginia  more  attention  has  been  given  to  plant- 
ing, and  in  some  of  the  States  north  of  us  all  the  land 
that  is  fit  for  the  purpose  is  thus  occupied.  In  many 
States,  as  in  Delaware,  a  great  part  of  New  Jersey, 
and  especially  in  Rhode  Island,  the  natural  beds  have 
been  so  heavily  drawn  upon  that  they  long  ago  ceased 
to  furnish  any  marketable  oysters,  and  they  are  now- 
valuable  only  as  a  source  from  which  a  supply  of 
small  oysters  tan  be  gathered  each  year  for  planting. 
The  spat  from  the  few  mature  oysters  which  escape 
the  fishermen,  and  that  which  drifts  into  the  beds  from 
the  planting  grounds  and  from  the  scattered  oysters 
which  still  exist  in  protected  places,  keep  up  the  sup- 
ply from  year  to  year,  and  its  value  is  increased  hun- 
dreds of  times  by  the  planting  system. 


THE  OYSTER.  12? 

The  industry  does  not  require  a  large  capital,  and  it 
can  be  carried  on  with  profit  on  a  very  small  scale, 
although  the  oysters  need  constant  and  intelligent  at- 
tention. In  all  places  where  it  has  been  employed  it 
has  added  greatly  to  the  prosperity  of  the  communities 
which  have  engaged  in  it,  and  has  greatly  increased 
the  population  of  the  shores  along  which  it  has  been 
encouraged  and  protected. 

A  writer  about  thirty  years  ago  states  that  the  pros- 
perity and  rapid  increase  of  the  population  of  Staten 
Island  are  chiefly  due  to  the  encouragement  and  growth 
of  the  oyster-planting  industry.  At  Prince's  Bay,  on 
that  island,  there  has  been  some  planting  for  more 
than  sixty  years,  but  before  the  bottom  was  laid  out 
in  private  plantations  there  were  very  few  persons  liv- 
ing there,  and  the  land  was  almost  uncultivated  ;  while 
in  1853  the  number  of  inhabitants  who  depended 
directly  upon  this  business  for  support  had  increased 
to  over  3000. 

In  some  of  the  Northern  States  oyster-planting  has 
been  in  existence  for  many  years.  Ingersoll  states 
that  oysters  have  been  planted  in  York  Bay,  in  New 
Jersey,  since  1810,  and  that  a  suit  was  brought  in 
Shrewsbury,  New  Jersey,  at  about  the  same  date,  to 
determine  whether  a  man  has  the  exclusive  right  to 
the  oysters  which  he  has  planted. 

The  history  of  the  oyster  industry  of  Rhode  Island 
furnishes  an  interesting  illustration  of  the  value  of  an 
intelligent  system  of  planting. 

In  1865  laws  were  passed  allowing  the  leasing  to 
private  citizens,  for  a  term  of  years,  at  an  annual  rental 
of  $10  per  acre,  of  the  right  to  plant  oysters  on  any 


128  THE   OYSTER. 

bottoms  which  are  covered  with  water  at  low  tide  and 
are  not  within  any  harbor  line,  to  be  used  as  a 
private  oyster  fishery  for  the  planting  and  cultiva- 
tion of  oysters,  whether  these  lands  contain  natural 
beds  or  not ;  and  efficient  laws  were  enacted  for  the 
protection  of  private  rights. 

The  effect  of  this  measure  has  been  good  in  every 
respect.  The  revenue  of  the  State  has  been  greatly 
increased,  and  it  is  stated  that  the  rentals  of  the  beds 
will  in  time  pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  State  govern- 
ment. 

In  1865  oysters  sold  for  $1.75  per  solid  gallon;  in 
1878  the  price  was  $1.15  to  $1.10,  and  in  1879  ^  na<^ 
fallen  to  90(0)95  cents. 

In  1865  the  product  of  the  State  was  71,894  bushels, 
while  in  1879  ^  was  660,500  bushels. 

The  area  which  was  used  for  planting  in  1879  was 
only  962  acres,  yet  this  area  paid  $6582.90  into  the 
State  treasury;  it  employed  a  capital  of  over  $1,000,- 
ooo;  it  paid  $125,000  in  wages  to  the  people  of  the 
State ;  it  furnished  the  market  with  660,500  bushels  of 
oysters,  with  $680,500  to  the  producers,  and  it  gave 
support  to  2400  persons. 

Until  1883  the  Rhode  Island  grounds  had  been 
used  only  for  planting,  and  most  of  the  seed  oysters 
were  purchased  from  other  States,  yet  the  planted 
oysters  sold  for  three  or  four  times  the  cost  of  the 
seed,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  there  is  any  farming 
land  in  the  United  States  which  yields  as  great  a  profit 
to  the  acre  as  the  bottoms  which  are  used  for  oyster- 
planting  in  Rhode  Island. 

Our  little  revenue  to  the  State  treasury  of  about 


THE  OYSTER.  12$ 

fifty  thousand  dollars  from  nearly  a  million  acres 
sinks  into  insignificance  when  compared  with  the 
eleven  thousand  dollars  which  Rhode  Island  receives 
from  her  eleven  hundred  acres,  and  her  beds  are  con- 
stantly improving  in  value,  while  ours  are  rapidly 
becoming  worthless  under  our  present  policy. 

In  the  early  days  of  Rhode  Island  oysters  were 
found  there  in  the  greatest  abundance,  but  although 
dredging  was  forbidden  in  1766,  under  penalty  of  ten 
pounds  fine,  the  natural  beds  have  been  so  depleted 
by  excessive  tonging  that  they  are  now  of  little  value, 
and  they  supply  only  a  very  small  part  of  the  seed 
used  in  planting.  If  all  the  area  of  our  own  State 
which  is  proper  for  oyster-planting  were  used  in  this 
way,  it  would,  if  no  more  profitable  than  the  oyster 
grounds  of  Rhode  Island,  bring  the  inconceivable 
sum  of  two  thousand  million  dollars  into  the  hands  of 
the  planters  each  year. 

The  oyster  industry  of  Delaware  furnishes  an  in- 
structive illustration  of  the  value  of  oyster-planting. 
The  natural  beds  of  this  State  are  not  equal  to  a  two- 
hundredth  part  of  those  of  our  State,  but  under  a  law 
which  allows  any  citizen  to  appropriate  fifteen  acres  of 
ground  where  there  are  no  natural  oysters,  upon  pay- 
ment of  a  fee  of  $25  and  an  annual  license  fee  of  $3 
per  ton  for  the  boat  used,  a  system  of  planting  has 
grown  up  which  is  encouraged  by  public  sentiment 
and  is  a  great  source  of  wealth. 

Until  recent  times  nearly  half  of  the  million  bushels 
of  seed  oysters  which  were  planted  annually  upon 
these  beds  were  taken  from  our  waters,  and  they  cost 
the  planter  less  than  twenty-five  cents  per  bushel,  put 


130  THE  OYSTER. 

down  upon  his  beds.  These  oysters  were  taken  up 
within  three  or  four  months,  and  then  sold  for  more 
than  eighty  cents  per  bushel. 

A  method  of  oyster-planting  in  artificial  ponds  has 
been  highly  developed  in  France,  where  it  is  found 
to  yield  an  adequate  return  for  the  labor  and  capital 
invested,  as  oysters  fattened  in  this  way  sell  for  fifty 
per  cent  more  than  those  from  the  natural  beds.  The 
method  involves  considerable  labor,  and  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  price  of  oysters  in  this  country  is  as  yet 
high  enough  to  render  this  industry  profitable  ;  but  as 
our  State  contains  thousands  of  acres  of  land  which  is 
at  present  of  no  value  whatever,  while  it  is  perfectly 
adapted  for  the  construction  of  oyster  ponds,  we  shall 
give  such  an  account  of  the  French  ponds  as  will  en- 
able any  one  to  experiment  in  this  direction.  As  our 
winter  climate  is  much  more  severe  than  that  of  the 
French  coast,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide  very 
slight,  some  changes  in  the  arrangements  of  the  ponds 
will  be  necessary,  but  there  is  no  reason  why  the  same 
general  plan  should  not  be  followed  here  to  great  ad- 
vantage, so  soon  as  the  price  of  oysters  increases  suf- 
ficiently to  warrant  the  labor.  We  are  indebted  to  a 
French  work  upon  the  oyster  (Guide  Pratique  de 
1'Ostreiculture  et  Precedes  d'Elevage  et  de  Multipli- 
cation des  Races  Marines  Comestibles,  par  M.  Felix 
Fraiche)  for  the  following  facts  regarding  the  con- 
struction and  management  of  artificial  oyster  ponds  or 
claires  : 

"  For  a  long  time  past  the  breeders  of  Marennes  have 
employed,  for  fattening  and  perfecting  oysters,  artificial 
basins  called  claires.  The  claires  are  basins  of  variable 


THE  OYSTER.  \^\ 

form  and  extent,  but  generally  with  an  area  of  about 
two  to  three  hundred  square  yards.  Situated  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  sea,  and  with  the  waters  they 
contain  at  a  higher  level  than  the  mean  height  of  ordi- 
nary tides,  it  is  only  at  the  period  of*  the  spring  tides, 
or  at  each  new  and  full  moon,  that  the  sea  rises  to 
their  level  and  supplies  them  anew  with  water.  The 
best  claires  are  those  which  receive  water  periodically 
from  the  sea,  during  about  three  days  before  and  three 
days  after  each  highest  tide.  This  period  of  renewal 
for  the  claires  is  that  which  experience  has  found  to 
be  the  best,  and  it  determines  the  maximum  altitude 
above  the  sea  for  the  construction  of  these  reservoirs. 
"  Around  each  claire  is  built  a  levee  or  dirt  wall, 
called  a  yard,  about  one  yard  in  height  and  thickness. 
This  yard  retains  the  water  filling  the  basin,  and  upon 
it  the  workmen  pass  to  and  fro  in  inspecting  and 
working  the  claire.  A  floodgate  closes  a  sluice  in 
one  side  of  the  wall,  by  means  of  which  the  sea  water 
is  admitted  to  the  basin.  This  gate  also  regulates  the 
height  of  the  water  within  the  basin,  and  if  desired  the 
basin  can  be  entirely  emptied  by  opening  it  wide.  All 
around  the  inner  circumference  of  the  yard  a  continu- 
ous trench  is  dug  to  receive  the  mud  deposited  in  the 
basin  from  the  stagnant  water,  for  if  this  mud  should 
be  left  in  the  basin  the  oysters  would  soon  be  smoth- 
ered. In  order  to  facilitate  the  clearing  away  of  the 
mud  into  this  ditch  a  slight  slope  is  given  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  basin,  circumscribed  by  the  ditch,  from  the 
center  towards  the  borders,  so  that  the  surface  is 
sensibly  convex.  Some  breeders  dispense  with  this 
ditch,  in  which  they  are  probably  wrong,  for  if  it  does 


132  THE  OYSTER. 

not  prevent  the  deposit  of  mud,  it  at  least  retards  it 
and  lessens  its  effect.  Its  use  cannot  be  judiciously 
dispensed  with,  unless  the  water  has  a  long  distance 
to  run  from  the  sea  and  is  given  a  chance  to  settle 
before  being  admitted  to  the  claire,  so  as  to  enable  it 
to  part  with  the  greater  share  of  the  mud  which  it 
carries. 

"  In  order  to  prepare  the  ground  of  the  claire  for 
the  reception  of  oysters,  it  must  first  be  cleared  of 
stones  and  all  vegetation  which  may  cover  it,  then  the 
necessary  slope  from  the  center  towards  the  sides  may 
be  given  it.  The  ditch  is  next  dug  and  the  yard 
thrown  up.  Then  with  the  sluiceway  made  and  the 
gate  in  place,  the  claire  is  ready  to  be  filled  with  water 
during  the  first  high  tide.  When  the  basin  is  full  the 
gate  is  closed  and  the  water  retained  after  the  sea  has 
returned  to  its  ordinary  level.  The  sea  water  soon 
penetrates  the  soil  of  the  claire,  saturating  it  with  salt, 
destroying  all  injurious  germs,  and  transforming  it,  in 
a  word,  into  a  marine  bottom.  As  soon  as  it  is  sup- 
posed that  this  effect  is  produced,  the  gate  is  opened 
and  the  surface  paved,  that  is,  it  is  first  smoothed 
over,  and  then  pounded  until  it  has  the  even,  compact 
appearance  of  a  threshing-floor.  In  about  two  months 
the  bottom  of  the  claire  will  be  ready  for  the  reception 
of  the  oyster.  The  breeders,  to  supply  these  claires, 
have  up  to  the  present  time  had  recourse  to  oysters 
taken  directly  from  the  sea,  either  from  banks  near 
at  hand  or  along  the  coasts  of  Brittany,  and  brought 
in  bulk  in  coasting  vessels.  In  order  that  the  products 
should  be  of  a  good  quality  and  that  the  regimen  of 
the  claire  should  have  a  beneficial  influence  upon  the 


THE  OYSTER.  133 

oysters  contained  therein,  it  is  necessary  that  they 
should  not  be  older  than  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  months 
or  larger  than  about  two  inches  in  diameter.  The 
breeder  culls  them,  cleans  them,  chooses  the  best  shaped 
ones,  and  then  scatters  them  with  a  shovel  over  the 
surface  of  the  basin.  Afterwards  they  are  all  arranged 
by  hand,  so  that  nothing  shall  hinder  their  develop- 
ment or  interfere  with  the  opening  of  their  valves.  In 
this  manner  about  150,000  can  be  accommodated  upon 
about  two  acres  of  surface.  The  claire  is  then  filled 
with  water,  which  is  maintained  at  a  uniform  depth  of 
about  a  foot.  This  water,  as  has  already  been  said,  is 
renewed  only  at  the  spring  tides,  and  at  this  time  the 
water  in  the  claires  is  necessarily  very  much  raised  in 
level,  and  consequently  the  most  active  supervision  is 
necessary,  for  the  heavy  pressure  upon  the  dikes  may 
produce  breaks  or  fissures,  which  it  is  necessary  to 
repair  immediately  or  widespread  disaster  may  result. 
During  cold  or  hot  weather,  or  sudden  changes  of 
temperature,  the  breeders  maintain  the  water  in  the 
claires  at  a  higher  level  than  the  ordinary,  in  order 
to  obviate  the  destructive  action  of  the  frost  in  winter 
or  the  rapid  evaporation  and  heating  of  the  water  in 
summer.  Nevertheless,  the  construction  of  the  claire 
does  not  always  permit  of  accident  from  these  causes 
being  guarded  against,  and  sometimes  the  result  is  an 
enormous  mortality  and  the  ruin  of  the  breeders. 
Moreover,  the  water  by  remaining  in  the  same  basin 
necessarily  deposits  there  a  certain  amount  of  sedi- 
ment which  continually  accumulates,  being  added  to 
at  each  high  tide,  and  especially  during  the  equinoctial 
tides,  thus  placing  the  oysters  in  no  slight  danger. 


134  THE   OYSTER. 

To  remedy  this  evil,  since  it  is  impossible  to  prevent 
the  deposit  of  mud,  the  breeders  always  have  certain 
unoccupied  claires  into  which  they  transfer  the  oys- 
ters from  the  muddy  claires  while  these-  are  being 
cleaned.  After  a  thorough  cleansing  they  are  left 
empty  until  it  becomes  necessary  to  clean  the  other 
claires,  when  the  oysters  are  transferred  back  to  their 
old  quarters.  But  certain  of  the  breeders,  not  willing 
to  allow  portions  of  their  land  to  lie  unproductive, 
content  themselves  by  cleaning  the  bottoms  and 
then  replacing  the  oysters  in  their  old  enclosure, 
always  soiled  with  mud.  It  is  useless  to  enumerate 
the  defects  of  this  practice,  which  can  only  produce 
inferior  results,  both  as  to  quality  and  numbers. 

"  A  claire  or  live-pond  can  be  established  upon  any 
ground  where  the  altitude  above  the  level  of  the  sea  is 
sufficient  to  enable  it  to  be  covered  by  the  tide,  not 
every  day,  which  would  expose  it  to  a  too  frequent 
deposit  of  mud,  but  at  least  twice  per  month,  and  dur- 
ing five  or  six  days  each  time.  And  as  a  breeder 
should  never  be  content  with  one  claire,  however  small 
his  establishment  may  be,  a  series  of  basins  can  be 
made  in  one  or  two  rows  parallel  to  the  coast,  along 
the  surface  sloping  to  the  sea,  and  all  having  the  same 
level. 

"  The  soil  of  the  bottom  of  the  claire  demands, 
acco'rding  to  its  nature,  different  kinds  of  treatment. 
If  it  is  clayey  or  muddy,  it  should  be  cleaned  and 
leveled,  leaving  the  central  portion  higher  than  the 
borders,  then  pounded  to  give  it  solidity,  and  finally 
covered  with  water  until  the  bottom  is  thoroughly 
saturated,  when  the  water  can  be  allowed  to  run 


THE  OYSTER.  135 

out,  and  the  bottom  once  more  pounded  while  it  is 
is  drying.  If  the  bottom  is  sandy  it  is  necessary  to 
render  it  impermeable,  so  that  the  water  may  not  leak 
out,  and  also  to  consolidate  it.  To  accomplish  this 
the  ground  is  worked  over  and  covered  with  a  layer 
of  coarse  gravel  or  fragments  of  shells,  upon  which  is 
laid  a  layer  of  clay  10  to  12  inches  in  thickness,  which 
is  then  treated  as  already  mentioned  for  the  marly 
bottoms.  Surrounding  the  ground  thus  prepared  are 
built  the  dikes  which  are  to  retain  the  water  in  the 
basins.  These  should  be  at  least  six  feet  in  height 
above  the  bottom,  so  that  a  depth  of  water  of  from 
four  to  five  feet  can  be  maintained  over  the  oysters, 
not  all  the  time,  as  generally  a  depth  of  from  a  foot  to 
eighteen  inches  is  best,  but  when  it  is  very  cold,  to 
prevent  the  injurious  effects  of  frosts,  and  when  it  is 
very  warm,  to  prevent  the  water  becoming  too  salt 
from  evaporation.  These  dikes  should  be  constructed 
very  solid,  so  as  to  resist  the  great  pressure  which  is 
brought  to  bear  upon  them  at  every  spring  tide,  and 
should  also  be  covered  upon  the  inside  the  same  as 
the  bottom,  with  a  layer  of  clay  or  hydraulic  cement, 
so  as  to  prevent  all  leakage,  which  is  very  disastrous 
in  these  basins,  since  the  water  is  renewed  only  at 
long  intervals.  The  upper  portion  of  the  larger  of 
these  dikes  should  be  sufficiently  broad  and  firm  to 
permit  the  workmen  to  traverse  it  easily  and  with- 
out danger,  for  all  the  necessary  manipulations  of 
working  and  inspection.  If  the  height  of  the  ground 
permits,  these  claires  can  be  formed  by  excavating  in 
the  solid  earth,  in  which  case  it  will  only  be  necessary 
to  cover  the  slopes  of  the  banks  with  a  layer  of  stones 


136  THE  OYSTER. 

set  in  cement.  This  system,  moreover,  will  allow  of 
the  utilization  of  lands  slightly  above  the  level  of  the 
tides,  so  that  by  uniting  the  two  systems  one  can 
arrange  three  or  even  more  rows  of  claires  all  upon 
the  same  level.  To  avoid  or  at  least  retard  the  de- 
posit of  mud  resulting  from  the  stagnation  of  the 
water,  the  claire  should  not  receive  a  new  supply  of 
water  from  the  sea  without  giving  it  a  chance  to  de- 
posit the  greater  part  of  its  sediment,  which  can  be 
accomplished  by  keeping  it  for  a  certain  length  of 
time  in  a  special  basin.  These  basins  themselves 
might  be  made  of  service  by  providing  them  with 
gates  and  sluices,  and  using  them  as  breeding  or  fat- 
tening ponds  for  mussels  or  other  marine  animals. 

"As  six  months  of  time  at  least  must  elapse  after  the 
young  growth  have  become  attached  to  the  collectors 
before  they  can  be  transported  with  safety,  the  two 
operations,  of  constructing  claires  and  gathering  the 
young,  ought  to  proceed  simultaneously.  When  the 
claires  are  finished,  and  have  a  layer  of  pure  and  fresh 
sea  water  over  the  bottom,  the  oysters  which  have 
been  brought  upon  the  collectors  should  be  distributed 
as  evenly  as  possible  with  a  shovel,  and  afterwards 
arranged  by  hand,  so  that  they  may  not  form  piles  in 
certain  places  and  be  entirely  wanting  over  other  sec- 
tions. 

"  During  the  first  three  or  four  years  of  such  an 
enterprise  one  should,  in  order  to  procure  the  young 
growth  necessary  to  restock  the  claires  left  vacant  by 
the  preceding  generation,  have  recourse,  as  at  first,  to 
the  movable  collectors,  and  bring  the  young  from 
some  natural  bank  ;  but  as  soon  as  a  generation  of 


THE  OYSTER.  137 

oysters  becomes  adult,  and  consequently  capable  of 
reproducing  the  species,  the  claires  themselves  ought 
to  produce  all  the  young  necessary  to  furnish  the 
ponds  with  a  constant  supply  of  animals. 

"  Many  times,  despite  the  defective  condition  of 
their  claires,  the  breeders  of  Marennes  have  witnessed 
their  basins,  depleted  by  a  widespread  mortality,  un- 
expectedly repeopled  from  a  few  oysters  which  had 
survived  the  disaster,  the  young  developing  upon  the 
shells  of  the  dead  oysters.  The  shells  in  these  cases 
acted  as  collectors  to  retain  the  germs  which  other- 
wise would  have  perished  or  been  carried  off  by  the 
first  spring  tide. 

"  It  is  perhaps  to  be  wondered  at,  and  even  regretted, 
that  such  facts  should  not  have  caused  the  breeders  to 
see  the  immense  advantage  of  making  their  basins 
places  of  production  and  growth  as  well  as  fattening 
establishments.  To-day,  thanks  to  the  light  thrown 
upon  this  question  by  the  researches  of  M.  Coste,  the 
oyster  industry  can  be  raised  above  the  condition  in 
which  it  has  been  kept  up  to  the  present  time  by 
routine  and  indifference,  and  it  may  be  spread  along 
our  coasts,  which  have  been  threatened  with  misery 
and  depopulation.  The  consequences  will  be  an 
eminently  remunerative  industry  and  a  permanent 
source  of  labor,  which  will  attract  to  our  coasts 
numerous  and  robust  men,  the  future  hopes  of  our 
naval  and  commercial  marine.  A  few  figures,  not 
chosen  by  chance,  but  selected  as  a  possible  mini- 
mum, may  serve  to  prove  to  my  readers  that  I  have 
not  exaggerated  in  qualifying  the  new  industry  as 
highly  remunerative,  especially  when  it  is  called  to 


138  THE  OYSTER. 

mind  that  the  lands  upon  which  it  is  carried  on  are 
nearly  valueless,  and  unsuited  to  any  other  sort  of 
cultivation. 

"  The  price  of  a  hundred  oysters  of  the  Marennes 
variety  varies  from  \y2  to  6  francs.  Let  us  then 
adopt  the  price  of  3  francs,  which  is  less  than  a  mean, 
as  the  average  price  per  hundred,  Upon  a  square 
yard  of  surface  in  a  claire  we  can  raise  from  60  to  80 
oysters,  and  if  we  take  the  minimum  at  50  it  will  give 
us,  upon  about  2^  acres,  500,000  oysters,  which  in 
about  five  years  (average  time  of  growth)  would  be 
worth  at  3  francs  per  hundred  the  sum  of  at  least 
15,000  francs,  making  a  yearly  revenue  of  3000  francs 
or  $600.  In  1863,  on  the  island  of  Re,  a  sailor  named 
Moreau  sold  the  first  gathering  from  his  park,  which 
contained  only  500  square  meters,  for  1300  francs, 
making  the  revenue  26,000  francs  per  hectare,  or 
$2180  per  acre.  Admitting  what  is  evidently  above 
the  truth,  that  the  expense  of  labor,  repairs,  super- 
vision, etc.,  absorbs  three-fifths  of  this  revenue,  then 
the  net  profits  would  be  1200  francs  per  hectare,  or 
for  the  five  years  6000  francs  or  $1200.  But  these 
calculations  are  based,  as  will  be  recognized,  upon 
mean  numbers,  which  are  probably  lower  than  facts 
would  demand.  It  will  readily  be  seen,  then,  that  in 
five  years  a  landed  property  of  the  value  of  at  least 
$480  per  year  to  each  acre  can  be  established  upon 
lands  which  before  were  unproductive  and  of  no  value. 
I  think  it  can  be  said,  without  danger  of  exaggeration, 
that  there  are  few,  if  any,  rural  occupations  which  in 
so  short  a  time  will  give  equal  results." 

The  culture  of  oysters  in  the  deeper  waters  of  the  bay, 


THE    OYSTER.  139 

and  the  establishment  of  new  oyster-beds  by  collect- 
ing the  floating  spat  upon  clean  shells  and  other  proper 
substances,  is  very  much  more  important  than  the 
encouragement  of  oyster-planting ;  but  the  various 
extracts  and  illustrations  which  have  been  given  are 
surely  enough  to  show  the  very  great  advantages 
which  we  should  derive  from  a  thorough  system  of 
planting.  Deep-water  cultivation  cannot  be  under- 
taken to  advantage  on  a  small  scale,  and  it  requires 
both  capital  and  expensive  appliances ;  but  oyster- 
planting  can  be  carried  on  without  any  great  expense, 
and  as  success  in  it  depends  to  a  great  degree  upon 
constant  intelligent  supervision,  small  cultivators  will 
always  have  the  advantage  of  those  who  attempt  more 
extensive  operations. 

The  most  serious  obstacle  to  the  development  of  a 
great  planting  industry  in  Maryland  is  the  absence  of 
all  respect  for  private  property  in  oysters.  In  enclosed 
or  artificial  ponds  oysters  would  be  much  more  safe 
from  theft  than  in  open  water,  and  as  the  shores  of  the 
bay  abound  in  suitable  spots  for  the  construction  of 
ponds  after  the  French  system,  I  have  given  a  long 
account  of  the  way  in  which  these  ponds  are  made  and 
managed.  Under  our  present  system  oysters  are  often 
sacrificed  or  sold  at  unremunerative  prices,  because 
there  is  no  way  to  keep  them  in  good  condition  until 
they  can  be  sold  to  advantage.  A  system  of  ponds 
after  the  French  pattern,  for  the  temporary  storage  of 
oysters,  would  be  a  very  profitable  piece  of  property 
in  the  vicinity  of  any  large  center  of  the  packing  busi- 
ness, and  the  experience  of  the  French  planters  shows 
that  the  construction  of  storage  ponds  where  the  oys- 


140  THE  OYSTER. 

ters  may  be  kept  in  good  order,  and  where  they  will 
continue  to  grow  and  to  increase  in  value,  is  a  very 
simple  matter. 

This  industry  has  also  the  great  advantage  that  it 
does  not  need  legislative  protection.  It  can  be  put  into 
practice  at^mce  by  any  one  who  owns  land  which  is 
suitable  for  the  purpose,  and  our  State  contains  hun- 
dreds of  acres  of  low,  marshy  land  which  is  now 
private  property,  although  it  is  of  little  or  no  value  to 
its  owners.  Small  streams  and  inlets  which  are  not 
navigable,  and  which  lie  within  the  limits  of  private 
land,  may  be  converted  into  ponds  like  the  French 
claires  at  very  slight  expense,  and  with  no  more  labor 
than  what  is  required  for  ordinary  agriculture  they 
could  be  made  much  more  profitable  than  the  best 
farming  land. 

The  oyster-planting  industry  in  the  open  water  is 
also  a  most  important  interest,  and  the  attention  of 
statesmen  may  well  be  directed  to  its  development ; 
for  while  legislation  alone  cannot  build  up  a  planting 
industry,  it  may  do  much  to  prepare  the  way  for  it. 

In  another  chapter  I  shall  try  to  show  what  our 
State  can  do  to  encourage  oyster  culture  in  general, 
but  I  wish  also  to  say  a  few  words  in  this  place  regard- 
ing the  encouragement  of  planting.  The  most  serious 
obstacle  to  the  growth  of  the  planting  industry  in 
Maryland  is  the  absence  of  protection  for  planted  oys- 
ters. They  are  exposed  to  the  depredations  of  both 
tongmen  and  dredgers.  If  the  private  planting  grounds 
could  be  protected  from  the  dredgers,  most  of  the 
difficulty  would  be  removed,  for  the  tongmen  can  be 
reached  by  the  local  authorities,  who  will  have  no 


THE  OYSTER.  14! 

difficulty  in  keeping  them  under  control  as  soon  as 
public  sentiment  is  in  favor  of  so  doing. 

The  restraint  of  the  dredgers  within  lawful  bounds 
is  a  more  difficult  matter,  and  if  dredging  on  the  public 
beds  is  to  be  permitted  at  all,  I  do  not  see  how  planted 
oysters  can  be  protected  in  any  way,  except  by  the 
formation  of  a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  private 
cultivation.  The  difficulty  is  so  great  that  many 
thoughtful  persons  believe  that  dredging  should  be 
prohibited,  but  after  much  careful  examination  of  the 
subject  I  am  not  convinced  of  the  propriety  of  this 
measure.  If  the  natural  beds  are  to  be  retained  by 
the  State,  and  licenses  to  gather  oysters  upon  them  are 
to  be  issued  by  the  State,  the  dredge  is  the  proper  in- 
strument to  use  for  the  purpose,  and  the  prohibition 
of  dredging  would  be  a  step  backward. 

Any  bed  which  can  be  reached  by  tongmen  may  be 
ruined  by  unrestricted  tonging  just  as  surely  as  by 
dredging,  and  the  statement  that  the  small  oysters  are 
destroyed  by  the  dredge  is  not  supported  by  my  own 
observation,  while  the  claim  of  the  dredgers  that  the 
area  of  the  natural  beds  has  been  enlarged  by  dredg- 
ing is  strictly  true.  The  natural  beds  have  been  over- 
taxed, and  they  are  in  great  danger  of  total  ruin,  but 
no  particular  set  of  oystermen  are  to  blame  for  this. 
Most  of  the  oysters  have  been  taken  by  dredges,  be- 
cause the  dredge  is  the  most  efficient  instrument  for 
the  purpose,  but  the  exhaustion  of  our  beds  is  the 
result  of  our  bad  system  and  the  absence  of  all  effort 
to  increase  our  supply  by  artificial  culture.  It  is  not 
due  to  any  particular  way  of  catching  oysters. 

The  prohibition  of  dredging  would  result  in  great 


142  THE  OYSTER. 

hardship  to  a  very  great  body  of  our  citizens,  and  if 
oystering  upon  the  public  beds  is  permitted  at  all,  I  do 
not  believe  that  any  legislative  interference  with  the 
methods  which  are  to  be  employed  would  be  wise.  It 
is  to  the  interest  of  the  public  that  the  oysters  shall  be 
taken  as  economically  as  possible,  and  the  most  effec- 
tive implement  for  the  purpose  is  the  best  one.  The 
only  way  in  which  public  beds  can  be  preserved  from 
ruin  is  by  the  restriction  of  the  crop  from  each  bed  to 
the  amount  which  it  is  found,  by  periodical  examina- 
tion by  an  expert,  to  be  capable  of  yielding  without 
injury,  but  the  most  effective  way  of  gathering  this 
crop  is  the  best  way. 

If  after  examination  any  natural  bed  is  found  to  be 
so  much  exhausted  that  it  is  no  longer  fit  to  yield  a 
supply  of  marketable  oysters,  it  should  be  closed  com- 
pletely to  all  fishermen,  or  else  thrown  open  to  all 
licensed  fishermen  for  a  short  time  in  the  summer,  to 
furnish  seed  oysters  for  planting ;  and  the  oyster 
planters  must  look  for  protection  in  their  industry  to 
the  growth  of  a  sentiment  of  respect  for  private  prop- 
erty in  oysters,  like  the  sentiment  in  favor  of  private 
agriculture  on  land.  As  soon  as  the  community  de- 
mands the  enforcement  of  the  laws,  and  juries  convict 
and  punish  depredators  as  if  they  had  trespassed  on 
private  land  above  water,  all  the  difficulties  will  disap- 
pear, and  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  other 
remedy. 

The  question  to  be  considered  then  is  this :  How 
can  the  people  of  the  State  be  brought  to  perceive  that 
private  enterprise  in  oyster  culture  is  to  their  advan- 
tage, and  what  can  be  done  to  develop  a  sentiment  of 


THE  OYSTER.  143 

respect  for  private  property  in  oysters  ?  This  is  the 
question  which  should  occupy  the  best  thought  of 
those  statesmen  who  are  sincerely  devoted  to  the 
welfare  of  the  community,  but  it  is  not  one  which  can 
be  answered  by  those  politicians  whose  only  interest 
in  the  sentiment  of  the  public  centers  in  the  use  which 
they  can  make  of  it  for  their  own  private  ends. 

As  soon  as  this  object  has  been  attained,  and  the 
planter  has  become  assured  that  he  will  be  permitted 
to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  industry,  the  demand  for  bot- 
toms to  be  used  as  planting  grounds  will  arise  natur- 
ally, and  it  should  be  met  by  more  adequate  legisla- 
tive provisions  than  our  present  five-acre  law.  Ri- 
parian owners  should  receive  from  the  State  the  right 
to  plant  oysters  upon  their  own  frontage,  without  any 
restrictions,  unless  this  contains  natural  beds,  and 
these  should  be  surveyed  and  definitely  described  and 
set  apart  by  the  State.  The  holders  of  land  for  planting 
under  the  five-acre  law  should  also  be  given  a  more 
secure  and  permanent  tenure.  At  present  they  pay 
nothing  for  the  right,  and  as  the  Legislature  may  at 
any  time  repeal  the  law,  they  have  no  secure  possession. 

There  would  be  a  much  greater  incentive  to  the  in- 
vestment of  labor  and  capital  in  oyster-planting  if  the 
planting  grounds  were  made  as  much  like  real  estate 
as  possible.  The  present  law  permits  the  sale  of 
planting  grounds,  but  no  person  can  hold  more  than 
five  acres.  This  limitation  has  no  advantages,  and  the 
owner  of  ground  under  this  law  should  be  allowed  to 
sell  as  freely  as  he  can  sell  land  above  water,  and  a 
person  who  already  holds  five  acres  should  be  per- 
mitted to  buy  or  inherit  any  other  grounds  which 
have  been  lawfully  leased  from  the  State. 


144  THE  OYSTER. 

In  some  States  where  grounds  are  held  for  private 
planting,  they  are  taxed,  like  real  estate,  and  the  pro- 
priety of  this  measure  is  unquestionable,  for  the  holder 
of  a  valuable  franchise  should  surely  pay  for  the  en- 
joyment of  his  advantage.  In  Maryland,  however, 
this  is  a  minor  consideration,  and  the  fostering  of  a 
prosperous  planting  industry  is  vastly  more  important 
to  all  our  citizens  than  an  immediate  revenue  to  the 
public  treasury. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  DECLINE  OF  OUR  OYSTER  INDUSTRY, 
AND  THE  PROTECTION  OF  OUR  NATURAL  BEDS. 

Every  one  now  acknowledges  that  the  condition  of 
the  oyster  industry  gives  good  reason  for  great 
anxiety.  In  times  of  hardship  it  is  natural  to  look  for 
some  one  to  bear  the  blame,  and  for  a  long  time  our 
daily  papers  have  been  filled  with  letters  from  packers, 
dealers,  brokers,  dredgers,  tongmen  and  planters,  all 
throwing  the  responsibility  on  some  one  else.  The 
important  question  is,  what  can  be  done  to  improve 
matters  ?  Every  one  knows  that  there  has  been  ignor- 
ance and  error  and  mismanagement  in  many  quarters, 
but  no  good  can  be  done  by  blaming  others. 

It  is  necessary,  however,  to  study  the  causes  of  the 
present  state  of  things,  not  as  an  excuse,  but  as  a  basis 
for  the  intelligent  discussion  of  remedies;  for  a  little 
knowledge  of  the  subject  will  show  that  no  relief  can 
be  expected  from  most  of  the  protection  measures 
which  are  advocated  in  the  newspaper  correspondence. 

If  wise  measures  had  been  adopted  years  ago  we 
might  have  passed  gradually  to  a  better  state  of  things 
without  exposing  to  hardship  any  one  who  is  engaged 
in  any  branch  of  the  industry,  but  our  people  have 
always  been  so  firmly  convinced  that  our  supply  was 
inexhaustible,  that  ail  warnings  have  been  disregarded, 


146  THE    OYSTER. 

and  we  have  never  taken  the  first  step  towards  reform 
— a  thorough  examination  of  the  exact  condition  of 
our  resources. 

The  world  will  scarcely  believe  that  in  a  State  whose 
largest  and  most  characteristic  industry  depends  on 
the  oyster,  the  oyster-beds  have  never  been  thoroughly 
examined  or  even  surveyed  and  mapped,  but  this  is 
the  case.  For  many  years  I  have  urged  the  import- 
ance of  thorough  periodical  examinations  of  the  beds 
as  a  basis  for  the  intelligent  regulation  of  the  fishery, 
but  this  work  has  never  been  undertaken  by  the  State. 
If  it  had  been,  the  result  would  long  ago  have  proved 
to  every  one  with  absolute  conclusiveness,  before  the 
damage  was  past  remedy,  what  has  been  perfectly 
obvious  for  many  years  to  all  who  have  studied  the 
subject,  that  our  beds  are  being  exhausted  and  ruined 
by  our  present  system. 

In  1882  I  was  appointed  a  commissioner  to  examine 
the  condition  of  the  oyster-beds  of  the  State  and  to 
report  the  same  to  the  next  General  Assembly,  but  no 
means  for  the  prosecution  of  a  survey  of  the  beds  were 
provided.  This  would  have  required  a  large  force  of 
trained  assistants,  with  expensive  appliances,  and  even 
then  it  would  have  been  the  work  of  years,  and  I  was 
forced  to  content  myself  with  a  mere  superficial  ex- 
amination. In  this  I  was  most  effectually  aided  by 
the  intelligence  and  enthusiasm  of  my  fellow-commis- 
sioner, the  late  Capt.  Jas.  I.  Waddell,  and  the  Governor 
of  the  State  furnished  from  his  "  emergency  fund  "  a 
small  sum  for  the  purchase  of  a  few  pieces  of  simple 
apparatus.  The  Trustees  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity allowed  me  to  devote  to  the  work  two  years, 


THE    OYSTER.  147 

during  which  they  paid  me  for  my  service  to  them, 
and  they  also  furnished  aid  in  other  ways,  so  that  the 
results  of  our  examination  of  the  beds  were,  in  great 
part,  a  gift  from  the  University  to  the  State. 

With  such  scanty  means  as  we  could  command  we 
organized  a  plan  of  work,  and  soon  accumulated 
enough  data  to  prove  that  our  oyster  policy  is  destruc- 
tive and  sure  to  result,  ultimately,  in  ruin  to  the  indus- 
try. Our  first  step  was  to  try  to  ascertain  the  condi- 
tion of  the  beds  by  personal  examination,  but  we 
found  that  the  absence  of  any  exact  data  as  to  their 
condition  in  past  years  rendered  any  inference  from 
our  observations  very  difficult. 

In  a  small  part  of  the  bay  exact  data  were  on  record, 
The  beds  of  Tangier  Sound  were  very  carefully 
surveyed  in  1878  and  1879  by  Lieutenant  Francis 
Winslow,  U.  S.  N.,  acting  under  the  direction  of  the 
Superintendent  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey. 
His  published  report  is  one  of  the  most  important 
documents  ever  printed  on  the  subject,  and  while 
it  covers  only  a  small  part  of  the  waters  of  Mary- 
land, it  gives  a  very  exhaustive  account  of  all  the 
oyster-beds  of  the  region  examined,  with  their  areas, 
location,  boundaries,  position,  general  character,  the 
number  of  oysters  to  the  square  yard,  the  ratios  be- 
tween oysters  of  different  ages,  etc.,  so  that  we  were 
able  to  ascertain  without  difficulty  the  changes  which 
these  beds  have  undergone  in  the  three  years  which 
had  passed  since  this  work  was  finished,  but  we  were 
unable  to  obtain  exact  information  of  this  kind  regard- 
ing the  great  mass  of  the  beds  of  this  State.  Lieuten- 
ant Winslow  was  employed  for  nearly  two  years  in  the 


148  THE   OYSTER. 

survey  of  Tangier  Sound,  and  a  similar  survey  of  all 
the  oyster  area  of  our  State  would  have  required  four 
or  five  years  more,  and  as  we  had  no  means  at  our 
disposal  for  exact  surveying,  even  if  there  had  been 
time  to  undertake  it,  we  adopted  a  more  rapid  method 
of  gaining  a  crude  idea  of  the  condition  of  the  beds. 

It  is  obvious  that  a'bed  where  there  are  many  oysters 
to  the  yard  is  in  a  more  fertile  condition  than  one 
where  the  oysters  are  few.  It  is  also  clear  that  a  bed 
in  which  the  living  oysters  are  few  as  compared  with 
the  dead  empty  shells,  is  less  vigorous  than  one  where 
the  dead  shells  are  less  numerous. 

It  is  clear,  too,  that  a  bed  upon  which  many  young 
oysters  are  growing  up  to  replace  the  old  ones  is 
more  prolific  than  one  where  the  young  oysters  are 
few.  During  the  first  year  of  its  life  the  oyster  is 
much  more  exposed  to  accidents  and  enemies  than 
it  is  after  it  reaches  maturity,  and  it  is  therefore  plain 
that  if  the  average  life  of  the  oyster  upon  our  worked 
beds  is  three  years,  any  bed  upon  which  the  oysters 
one  year  old  are  not  much  more  than  one-third  of  the 
whole  number  must  soon  be  destroyed. 

We  therefore  attempted  to  ascertain  these  three 
points  for  all  the  larger  beds  in  our  waters  :  first,  the 
number  of  oysters  to  the  square  yard;  second,  the 
ratio  of  living  oysters  to  empty  shells,  and,  third,  the 
ratio  of  mature  to  immature  oysters.  To  ascertain  the 
number  of  oysters  to  the  square  yard,  a  dredge  with  a 
mouth  a  yard  wide  was  dragged  over  the  bottom,  for 
a  measured  distance,  at  a  definite  rate  of  speed,  and  its 
contents  were  then  brought  aboard  and  counted. 
This  method  does  not  give  perfect  accuracy,  for  the 


THE   OYSTER.  149 

dredge  does  not,  as  a  rule,  take  all  the  oysters.  The 
number  of  oysters  taken  by  the  dredge  varies  with  the 
weight  of  the  dredge,  the  speed  of  the  boat,  the  depth 
of  the  water,  the  length  of  the  line,  the  character  of 
the  bottom,  etc.  Still  examinations  of  this  sort,  made 
upon  different  beds  by  the  same  dredge  used  by  the 
same  persons  in  the  same  boat  and  managed  in  the 
same  manner,  give  results  which  are  reliable,  although 
it  is  more  difficult  to  compare  the  results  of  two  or 
more  examiners. 

The  oysters  captured  in  this  way  were  carefully 
separated  from  the  empty  shells  and  other  refuse,  and 
both  oysters  and  debris  were  measured  and  counted. 
The  oysters  of  various  ages  were  then  separated  into 
.four  sets :  large  oysters,  or  those  less  than  200  to  the 
bushel;  medium  oysters,  or  those  between  200  and 
300  to  the  bushel ;  small  oysters,  or  those  over  400 
to  the  bushel  and  over  an  inch  long ;  and  young 
growth,  or  those  less  than  an  inch  long. 

During  this  work  we  examined  sixty-one  beds  and 
made  three  hundred  and  forty  hauls  of  the  dredge  ; 
and  the  results  of  this  examination  are  here  given  in 
full,  together  with  an  analysis,  and  a  comparison  of 
our  results  with  those  which  had  previously  been  ob- 
tained by  Winslow  and  others. 

In  1878  and  1879  Lieutenant  Winslow  found  that 
there  were  about  .419  oysters  to  the  square  yard  in 
Tangier  Sound,  or  one  oyster  to  every  two  and  three 
hundred  and  eighty-six  thousandths  square  yards. 
As  the  Tangier  Sound  beds  at  that  time  showed  indi- 
cations of  exhaustion, 'this  number,  .419  to  the  square 
yard,  is  less  than  it  would  be  upon  uninjured  beds, 


150  THE    OYSTER. 

and  it  is  probable  that  the  beds  outside  the  Sound 
would  have  given  a  much  greater  number  at  that 
time.  If  we  now  find  that  the  average  is  below  this 
number,  we  can  safely  assume  that  the  difference  is 
entirely  due  to  the  injury  which  the  beds  have  sus- 
tained since  1879,  an(^  we  can  tnus  form  some  esti- 
mate of  the  time  which  will  be  required  for  their  com- 
plete destruction.  We  made  use  of  the  method  which 
was  employed  by  Winslow  in  his  examination.  A 
dredge,  a  yard  wide,  was  dragged  slowly  over  the 
bed  until  we  ascertained  that  we  were  upon  the  oyster 
grounds.  The  dredge  was  then  emptied,  lowered  on 
to  the  bed,  and  as  soon  as  it  began  to  take  hold  of  the 
bottom  it  was  timed,  and  the  rate  of  the  steamer  was 
also  ascertained  by  the  ground-log.  The  area  dredged 
over  was  not  the  same  in  all  cases.  Where  oysters 
were  abundant  the  steamer  was  stopped  and  time  was 
taken  as  soon  as  the  dredge  was  full.  In  other  cases 
five  minutes  were  allowed  to  pass  and  the  steamer 
was  then  stopped.  The  dredge  was  then  hauled  in, 
and  the  oysters  were  counted  and  measured. 

This  method  does  not  give  the  actual  number  of 
oysters  upon  the  bottom,  for  the  dredge  does  not 
always  sweep  clean,  and  it  is  necessary  to  pass  over 
the  ground  several  times  to  thoroughly  exhaust  it, 
but  results  obtained  in  this  way  give  the  relative  con- 
dition of  the  bed  with  great  accuracy. 

Whenever  the  contents  of  the  dredge  showed  that  we 
were  off  the  bed,  or  near  its  limits,  the  haul  was  not 
counted,  and  the  results  therefore  show  the  number  of 
oysters  upon  the  beds  ;  not  the  number  per  yard  over 
the  whole  bay. 


THE    OYSTER  I$I 

Fifty-nine  beds  were  examined  in  this  way,  and  the 
results  are  given  in  the  accompanying  table,  which 
shows  that  forty-four  of  these  beds  are  below  Wins- 
low's  average,  and  fifteen  above  it.  Upon  one  of  these 
beds,  in  Hooper's  Strait,  we  found  8.2  oysters  to  the 
square  yard,  and  we  here  obtained  4000  oysters  in  six 
hauls.  These  oysters  were  all  very  small,  averaging 
four  hundred  to  the  bushel,  and  we  probably  struck 
an  area  where  there  had  been  a  good  catch  of  spat  a 
year  or  two  before,  but  where  there  were  no  large 
oysters.  At  any  rate,  this  condition  is  exceptional, 
and  I  have  therefore  omitted  the  dredgings  in  Hooper's 
Strait  in  the  average  for  the  bay.  Leaving  this  out, 
the  average  for  the  other  fifty-eight  beds  gives  .235 
oysters  to  the  square  yard,  or  one  oyster  to  each 
4yW(T  yards,  while  three  years  before  there  was  one 
oyster  to  each  2-ff/^  square  yards. 

Startling  as  this  result  is,  it  is  by  no  means  the 
whole  truth.  We  must  remember  that  in  1879  Tan- 
gier Sound  itself  was  more  exhausted  than  the  bay, 
so  there  were  undoubtedly  more  than  .419  oysters  to 
the  square  yard  at  this  date.  Then,  too,  we  have  ex- 
amined many  beds  where  dredging  is  not  permitted, 
and  other  beds  where  the  oysters  are  unmarketable, 
and  the  high  results  which  we  obtained  from  these 
beds  are  included  in  the  average.  If  these  were 
omitted  our  total  would  show  nearly  50  per  cent  of 
exhaustion  to  the  most  valuable  beds  of  the  State. 
The  accompanying  table,  which  is  compiled  entirely 
from  the  facts  which  we  observed  by  personal  exami- 
nation of  all  the  beds,  must  speak  for  itself.  It  is  the 
most  trustworthy  evidence  which  we  have  been  able 


152  THE   OYSTER. 

to  obtain,  and  it  certainly  justifies  the  widespread  be- 
lief that  the  oyster  property  of  the  State  is  in  immi- 
nent danger  of  complete  destruction  unless  radical 
changes  in  the  methods  of  managing  the  beds  are 
made  at  once. 

Great  importance  should  not,  however,  be  given  to 
the  exact  quantitative  result  which  we  obtained,  as  it 
is  based  on  only  one  examination.  If  the  beds  could 
have  been  examined  every  year  or  two  in  the  same 
way,  as  we  recommended  at  the  time,  the  results  of 
successive  examinations  could  have  been  ccmpared 
with  considerable  accuracy,  and  definite  data  could 
thus  have  been  obtained,  but  it  is  difficult  to  estimate 
the  exact  value  of  a  single  examination. 

EXPLANATION  OF  TABLE  NO.   I. 

-The  first  column  gives  the  name  of  the  bed  ;  the 
second  the  number  of  dredgings  which  were  made 
upon  it  by  us  ;  the  third  the  number  of  square  yards 
dredged  ;  the  fourth  the  number  of  oysters  taken  ;  the 
fifth  the  number  found  by  us  in  1882;  the  sixth  the 
number  found  by  us  in  1883;  the  seventh  the  amount 
of  deviation  from  Winslow's  average  for  1879,  of  A1 9 
oysters  to  the  square  yard,  and  the  eighth  the  per- 
centage of  gain  or  loss  since  the  last  examination. 
Thus  the  first  line  shows  that  eight  dredgings  were 
made  upon  the  Bodkin;  that  1732  square  yards  were 
examined ;  that  894  oysters  were  obtained ;  that  the 
bed  had  lost  y5^  oysters  to  each  square  yard  since 
1882,  and  that  it  has  lost  62  per  cent  of  its  value  in 
that  time. 


TABLE  No.  i.—  SHOWING  THE  NUMBER  OF  OYSTERS  TO  A  SQUARE 
YARD  IN  THE  WATERS  OF  MARYLAND  IN  1882  AND  1883. 


NAME  OF  BED. 

Number  of 
Dredgings. 

jf 

1732 
2318 
2978 
1954 
5280 
12-47 
1173 
3666 
2200 
2493 
1037 
2200 

3777 
1173 
293 
733 
2f.3 
293 
6562 
2064 
2138 
587 

Total  number 
of  Oysters. 

OYSTERS 

TO 

SQUARE 

Deviat  n  from 
Winslow's 
average  for 
1879. 

Percentage  of 
gain   or   loss 
since  last  ex- 
amination, or 
since  1879. 

1882. 

1883. 

.3C5 
.19 
.284 
.057 
.0358 
.371 
.089 
.185 
.C931 
.23 
.222 
.353 

.0£2 
.£6 
.115 
.01 
.02 
.51 
.117 
.C334 
.056 
.041 

".05 
.76 
.863 
.1089 
.66 
.56 
.959 
.084 
.0681 
.012 
.OE5 
.043 
.034 
.0645 
.OC57 
.019 
.21 
.071 
.27 
.89 
.231 

.0765 

.058 

•°j 

M 

.i4«r 

Gain 

Loss. 

62 
84 
98 
99 
89 

1 

45 
47 
16 

92 
14 
74 
97 
95 

"72 
92 

86 
90 

"88 

"50 
87 
90 
97 
91 
89 
91 
84 
98 
95 
49 
83 
35 
06 
44 

"si 

86 
76 
80 
3-01 
79 
63 

"34 

48 

Bodkin  

8 
9 

12 
B 

10 

i 

t 

I 
t 

] 
] 

11 
( 
I 

894 
1164 
3158 
2333 
189 
463 
102 
495 
205 
571 
231 
777 

123 
430 
40 
8 
6 
150 
757 
69 
119 
24 

.81 
1.21 
3.728 
5.22 

-.114 
-.229 
-.185 
-.362 
3732 



Hack'ett's  Point  
Swan  Point  

South  Side  Chester  River  
Cornfield  Creek  

-.048 
-.33 

-.284 

-35 

-.197 
-.066 

-.387 
-.059 
-.£04 
-.409 
-.£99 
+.191 
-.302 
-.3856 
-.363 
-.378 
+  .761 
-.369 
+  .341 
+  .444 
+  .67 
+  .241 
+  .141 
+  .54 
-.335 
-.3209 
-.407 
-.384 
-.376 
-.385 
-.3545 
-.4135 

-.20! 
-.348 
-.149 
-.029 

—  .188 
+  .281 
-.3425 
-.361 
-.319 
-.£89 
-  .0014 
-.326 
-.2663 
+  .681 
+  .481 
+  .098 
+  7.781 
t.  .051 
+  .102 
±.147 
-.201 

:::::: 

Thomas'  Point  

Round  Point  Reef  

Thomas'  Bar  

Tally's  Point  

Scull  Hall:  .'  

Chink  Point 

Choptank  River- 
Cook's  Point  

Benoni's  Point  
Chlora's  Point  

Todd's  Point  

Castlehaven  

':::* 

Horn  Point    

Total  in  Choptank    

First  Kent  Point  

South  Kent  Point  

: 

487 
8666 
2S3 
220 
.  183 
513 

575 
186 
225 
190 
200 
340 

1.18 

181 

""si 

106 
16 
57 
33 

Tilghman's  Point  to  Wade's  Point 
South  River               

Shackel's  Point            

Duvall's  Bar                   

Purdy's  Point                 

Z 

s 

i 
•  •4 

r. 

193 
7313 
2364 
1494 
2200 
2200 
1833 
1089 
6233 
,4033 
1173 

165 

78 
80 
87 
375 
S3 
22 

!C9 
1.3S 

Three  Sisters                

Little  Choptank  No  1            



Ragged  Point                       

Hill*^  Point                           

Hoifand  Point 

Daddy  Dare                                  •  • 

i 

2( 
9 

9 

1466 
2200 
2200 
2200 
1467 
488 
5463 
278~ 
51£3 
2787 
1687 
7333 
1962" 
976 
488 
163 
488 
379 
813 
5708 
1626 

308 
158 
569 
872 
3£9 
340 
185 
151 
513 
226 
705 
686 
2281 
1025 
489 
84 
4000 
181 
427 
1555 
355 

V.6 

.51' 
8. 
.4 
.52 
.272 
.218 

""67 

"'iie 

114 
23 

1857 
12 
24 

Hawk's  Nest 

Middle  Ground 

Cornfield  Point  to  Pitt's  Point  .  .  . 

Piney  Point  to  Blackstone's  Island 

Fishing  Bay  Dredging  Ground..  . 
Fishing  Bay  longing  Ground  ...  . 

Total  

:;•;< 

12C958 

32405      .... 



1 

Total  number  of  beds  examined 59 

Total  number  of  dredgings 326 

Total  number  of  square  yards  examined 120,958 

Total  number  of  Oysters  found 32,405 

Number  of  Oysters  to  the  square  yard 267 

Number  of  Oysters  to  the  square  yard,  exclusive  of  Hooper's  Strait 235 


154  THE   OYSTER. 

RATIO  BETWEEN  LIVING  OYSTERS  AND  DEAD  SHELLS. 

When  the  oysters  are  culled  upon  the  beds  where 
they  are  caught,  the  dead  shells  are  thrown  back,  and 
the  oysters  upon  a  bed  which  has  been  overworked 
will  therefore  form  a  smaller  part  of  the  total  contents 
of  the  dredge  than  they  will  upon  a  more  prosperous 
and  valuable  bed.  In  a  dredge  which  has  been  hauled 
over  an  unexhausted  bed,  the  living  oysters  are  many 
and  the  shells  are  few,  while  the  dredge  brings  up 
from  an  exhausted  bed  a  great  mass  of  rubbish,  which 
must  be  lifted  and  handled  in  order  to  obtain  a  few 
oysters. 

The  ratio  between  the  living  oysters  and  the  dead 
shells  therefore  furnishes  us  with  a  means  for  deciding 
whether  a  bed  is  deteriorating  or  not.  This  method 
of  estimating  the  condition  of  the  beds  is  a  very  rough 
one,  and  the  evidence  is  not  of  much  value  when  only 
a  single  bed  is  examined.  The  dead  shells  are  swept 
into  the  channel  in  some  places,  and  covered  up  by 
sand  or  mud  in  others,  so  that  the  dredge  may  come 
up  filled  with  shells  when  it  happens  to  strike  a  bed 
where  they  have  been  swept  together,  and  in  another 
case,  where  most  of  the  shells  are  buried,  it  may  con- 
tain few  shells.  If  the  dredge  is  heavy  and  is  dragged 
with  a  long  line,  it  may  dig  into  the  mud  and  become 
filled  with  old  shells,  where  another  dredge,  or  the 
same  dredge  dragged  in  a  different  way,  may  contain 
few  or  none.  The  contents  of  the  dredge  are  deter- 
mined by  so  many  accidents  that  single  observations 
of  the  ratio  between  shells  and  oysters  are  of  little 
value,  but  the  case  is  different  where  a  great  number 


THE  OYSTER.  155 

of  dredgings  are  made.  In  1876  Mr.  Otto  Lugger 
visited  most  of  our  beds,  and  measured  the  quantity 
of  shells  and  of  oysters  obtained  from  each.  As  he 
made  a  great  number  of  observations,  his  results  give 
us  a  means  of  ascertaining  the  average  ratio  in  1876. 
His  results,  obtained  by  the  examination  of  twenty 
beds,  show  that  in  1876  the  dredge  brought  up  $^$ 
bushels  of  oysters  for  each  bushel  of  shells.  In  1878 
and  1879  Li^ut.  Winslow  examined  in  the  same  way 
seventeen  beds  in  Tangier  Sound,  and  found  that  only 
IrW  bushels  of  oysters  were  obtained  for  each  bushel 
of  shells. 

In  November,  1882,  we  examined  fourteen  beds  in 
this  way,  and  found  that  the  average  had  fallen  from 
3T6/o-  in  1876  and  IT9/(I  in  1879  to  iTVo  bushels  in 
1882.  Thirty-two  beds  were  examined  in  the  same 
way  in  the  summer  of  1883,  and  nearly  the  same 
ratio  was  obtained,  there  being  if  bushels  of  living 
oysters  for  each  bushel  of  dead  shells. 

The  results  of  this  examination  are  given  in  full  in 
the  following  table. 


156 


'THE   OYSTER. 


TABLE  No.  2. — To  SHOW  THE  NUMBER  OF  BUSHELS  OF  OYSTERS 
TO  EACH  BUSHEL  OF  DEAD  SHELLS. 


1876. 
Lugger. 


1879. 
"Winslow. 


1868. 


Bodkin 1.22 

Sandy  Point 

Hackett's  Point 

Swan  Point 

Chester  River 

Cornfield  Creek 

Thomas'  Point 

Tally's 

Scull  Hall 

ChinkPoint 

Cook's  Point 

Benoni's  Point 

Castlehaven 

Horn  Point 

Eastern  Bay 

Kent  Point 1.5 

Tilghman's  Point 

South  River 

Shackel's  Point 

Uuvall's  Bar 

Brewer's  Point 

Purdy's  Point 

Three  Sisters 

Sharp's  Island 

Holland  Point 3. 

Plum  Point 4. 

Little  Cove  Point 1.85 

Hog  Island 

Hawk'sNest 

Broom's  Island 

Kent  Island 2.33 

Piney  Island 2.33 

Fishing  Pay 

Hooper's  Strait 5.6 

James' Point 4. 

Sharp's  Island 5.6 

Poplar  Island '.        5.6 

No  Point  Bar 

Great  Rock 

Turtle  Egg  Rock 

Great  Fox  Island 4. 

South  Marsh  Island 5.6 

St.  Michael's 5.6 

Bozman's  Flats 

Roaring  Point 3. 


14 

14 

1    u 


21 

28 
285 


3. 

4. 

2. 

1.8 
.89 

3. 

1.16 

4. 

1.57 

1.83 

1.25 
.17 

6. 

2. 

2. 
.60 
.33 
.33 
.66 

2.5 

1. 

1.5 
.28 
.18 

4. 

I. 
.5 
.79 
.52 
.25 


In  1876  Lugger  found  as  the  average  for  twenty  beds  8.6S2  bushels  of  oysters  for 
each  bushel  of  shells. 

In  1879  Winslow  found  as  the  average  from  seventeen  beds  1.9(2  bushels  of 
oysters  for  each  bushel  of  shells. 

In  1882  we  found  as  the  average  for  fourteen  beds  1.81  bushels  of  oysters  for  each 
bushel  of  shells. 

In  181-3  we  found  as  the  average  for  thirty-one  beds  1.4-10  bushels  of  oysters  for 
each  bushel  of  shells. 


THE   OYSTER.  157 

This  table  shows  that  while  it  is  necessary,  in  1883, 
to  handle  161  bushels  of  oysters  and  shells  to  obtain 
100  bushels  of  oysters,  it  was  necessary  to  handle  only 
151  bushels  in  1879  and  only  127  bushels  in  1876. 

This  evidence,  in  connection  with  that  which  has 
been  given  in  Table  I,  seems  to  prove  that  the  whole 
oyster  area  of  our  State  is  being  rapidly  exhausted. 

THE  RATIO  BETWEEN  LARGE  AND  SMALL  OYSTERS. 

Any  bed  is  on  the  road  to  destruction  if  the  number 
of  old  oysters  which  are  removed  from  it  each  year  is 
as  great  as  the  number  of  young  ones  which  are  grow- 
ing up  to  take  their  places.  Oysters,  like  other  ani- 
mals, are  exposed  to  many  accidents,  and  the  number 
which  can  be  taken  from  a  bed  annually  is  equal  to 
the  number  which  are  growing  up  to  take  their  places, 
less  the  number  which  will  be  destroyed  by  the  acci- 
dents of  nature. 

An  accurate  count  of  the  oysters  of  various  ages 
upon  a  bed,  therefore,  gives  us  a  means  of  deciding 
whether  it  is  or  is  not  in  danger  of  exhaustion. 

We  have  examined  in  this  way  the  oysters  upon 
the  beds  which  we  have  visited,  and  have  divided 
them  into  four  classes.  The  first  class  includes 
large  oysters,  or  all  oysters  of  which  a  bushel  does 
not  contain  more  than  250;  the  second  class  includes 
medium  oysters,  or  those  between  250  and  400  to  the 
bushel ;  the  third  class  includes  the  small  oysters, 
those  which  are  large  enough  to  be  seen  and  counted 
without  difficulty,  and  more  than  400  to  the  bushel ; 
and  the  fourth  class,  or  "  young,"  those  which  are  less 
than  one-half  inch  long. 


158  THE    OYSTER. 

The  accompanying  table  shows  the  number  of  oys- 
ters of  each  class  which  we  obtained  upon  the  beds 
which  we  visited,  and  the  ratio  between  them. 

Thus  we  found  upon  the  Bodkin  bar  in  November, 
1882,  no  large  oysters,  225  medium  oysters,  355  small 
ones,  and  no  young,  and  there  were  at  that  time  100 
small  ones  for  each  67  of  medium  size. 

In  June,  1883,  we  found  no  large  ones,  and  the 
small  ones  which  we  had  found  in  November  had 
grown  to  a  medium  size,  and  there  were  no  small  ones 
growing  up  to  take  the  places  of  these  when  removed  by 
the  season's  dredging.  This  result  seems  at  first  sight 
to  indicate  that  the  fishing  this  season  (1884)  will  ex- 
haust the  Bodkin  bed  and  put  an  end  to  work  there, 
but  in  truth  the  case  is  not  quite  so  discouraging,  for 
our  second  examination  was  made  before  the  end  of 
the  spawning  season,  and  an  examination  in  the  fall 
might  have  given  a  different  result. 

In  order  to  be  trustworthy,  an  examination  of  this 
kind  should  be  made  every  year,  in  the  same  month, 
and  if  the  oysters  of  various  sizes  upon  each  bed  could 
be  counted  twice  every  year,  in  May  or  June,  and  in 
September  or  October,  the  results  would  be  very 
valuable  and  would  soon  furnish  a  very  exact  means 
for  ascertaining  the  condition  of  the  beds.  This  evi- 
dence would  be  the  more  valuable,  as  it  would  soon 
enable  us  to  determine,  a  year  or  more  in  advance, 
how  many  marketable  oysters  a  bed  could  yield  with- 
out injury. 

In  the  absence  of  any  records  of  the  numbers  of 
oysters  of  various  sizes  in  previous  years,  our  table  is 
of  no  particular  value,  but  we  give  it  in  full,  in  order 
to  facilitate  the  work  of  comparison  in  the  future. 


TABLE  No.  3. — To  SHOW  THE  NUMBER  AND  RATIOS  OF  OYSTERS 
OF  VARIOUS  SIZES. 


if 

I  i  u  m,  or 
n  250  to  4fO 
he  bushel. 

1,  or  more 
i  400  to  the 
hel.but 
e  enough 
ount. 

ng  too 
11  to  count. 

|| 

If 

°0 

III 

§13 

lisfJ 

o| 

£S 

$ 

Bodkin,  November,  1882    . 

13 

60 
108 
3( 

11 

m 
19; 

5 
9 

49 
21 

5 

400 
2 

( 

80 
( 
0 
0 
23 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
180 
22 
45 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
747 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
84 
191 

22 
31 
17 
15 

2,25 

4 

7 
46: 

271 
146 
525 
10 
140 
77r 
123 
0 
0 
J 
( 
0 
187 
0 
190 
0 
340 
165 
0 
802 
175 
124 

193 
SOO 
148 
0 
78 
0 
87 
182 
0 
0 
121 

£08 
0 
0 
0 
339 
0 
160 
59 
49 
151 
0 
0 
705 
0 
407 
700 
227 
46 
0 
70 
213 
164 

70 

105 
5 

8 

43 
4 

62i 
22i 

2(X 

21 

0 
0 
0 
0 

28 
0 
0 
0 
0 
193 
0 
0 
0 
0 
158 
569 
872 
0 
205 
0 
10 
0 
0 
513 
226 
0 
686 
401 
325 
212 
38 
4,000 
111 
130 
0 

many 
few. 
few. 

few. 

few. 

few. 
many, 
few. 

few. 
0 
few. 
0 
many. 

( 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
many, 
many. 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
many, 
many, 
many, 
many, 
many. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
many, 
many. 

few. 

.25^ 
.133 
.6 
2.1 

'.72 

.088 
.009 

".6, 

.67 
'.207 

2.fi3 
2.75 

'  V.2 
'  '.22 

Bodkin,  June,  1883  

Sandy  Point,  June,  1883  . 

Sandy  Point,  November,  1882  
Hackett's  Point,  November,  1?82... 
Hackett's  Point,  June,  1883  
Swan  Point,  November,  1882  
Swan  Point,  June,  1883  
Chester  River,  June,  1883     .     . 

Cornfield  Creek,  June,  1883  
Thomas'  Point,  June,  1883  .  . 

Tally's  Point,  June,  1883.  .  .. 

Eastern  Bay,  June,  1883  ... 

Eastern  Bay,  November,  1882  
Tilghman's  Point,  June.  1883 

Scull  Hall,  June,  1883    .'  

Chink  Point,  June,  1883  . 

Cook's  Point,  June.  1883  
Benoni's  Point,  June,  1883    . 

Chlora's  Point.  June,  1883 

Todd's  Point,  June  1883 

Castlehaven,  June,  1883 

Horn  Point,  June,  1883 

Choptank,  June  1883 

South  River,  June  1883 

Shackel's  Point,  June  1883 

Duvall's  Bar,  June  1888 

Brewer's  Point,  June,  1883 

.... 

Purdy's  Point,  June,  1883  
Round  Point  Reef  June  1883 

l'.24 

V.94 
1.19 
.44 
.146 

".83 

Saunders'  Point,  June  1883 

Poplar  Island,  November,  1882  
Poplar  Island,  June,  1888  

Three  Sisters,  November,  1882  
Three  Sisters,  June,  1883  

Sharp's  Island  Rock,  November,  1882 
Sharp's  Island  Rock,  July,  1883  
Little  Choptank,  July,  1883  
Ragged  Point,  July,  1883  

Hill's  Point,  July,  1883.  .., 

Nigger  Head,  July,  1883  

Near  Holland  Point,  July,  1883  
Holland  Point,  July,  1883  
Plum  Point,  July,  1883  
Daddy  Dare,  July,  1«83.... 

Steps,  July,  1883 

Little  Low  Point,  July,  1883  
Patuxent  River,  July,  1883.... 

Hawk's  Nest,  July,  1883  

Broom's  Island,  July,  1883  

Patuxent  Middle  Ground,  July,  1883. 
Thomas'  Bar  July,  1883 

Kent  Island,  November,  1882  

1.12 
.37 

.91 

5.9 

Kent  Island  July  1888 

Bloody  Point  July  1883 

Potomac  No.  1,  January,  1883  

Cornfield  Point,  August,  1883  

St.  Mary's  River,  August  1883 

.... 

St.  George's  Island,  August,  1883  .... 
Piney  Point,  August  1883  . 

i'.ss 

"S9 
1.16 

V.oi 

2.15 
1.07 
1.21 

"t3 

1.60 

Great  Rock,  November,  1882  
Piney  Island  Bar,  November,  1882.... 
Fishing  Eay,  November,  1882 

Fishing  Bay,  November.  1882  
Hooper's  Strait,  November,  1882  
James'  Point,  November,  1882  
No  Point  Par.  November,  1882  

Turtle  Egg  Fock,  November,  1883.... 

Total  I       j,7n 

15,6731         11,848      

....1     .... 

160  THE   OYSTER.' 

The  precise  significance  of  this  table  cannot  be  under- 
stood until  similar  examinations  have  been  carried  on 
for  a  term  of  years,  and  at  the  same  time  in  each  year. 

It  will  be  observed,  however,  that  it  shows  a  total  of 
20,390  large  and  medium  oysters  to  only  11,848  small 
ones.  Four  thousand  of  these  small  oysters  were 
taken  at  one  time  in  Hooper's  Strait,  in  a  "  pocket " 
which  had  escaped  the  dredgers,  and  this  haul  should 
be  omitted  in  order  to  show  a  typical  average.  If  we 
leave  it  out  we  shall  have  20,390  large  and  medium 
oysters  to  7848  small  ones,  or  only  a  little  more  than 
one  small  one  to  three  marketable  ones.  It  is  very 
probable  that  if  all  our  examinations  had  been  made 
in  the  fall,  the  number  of  small  oysters  would  have 
been  found  much  greater,  and  they  are  above  the 
average  on  the  beds  which  we  examined  in  November. 

Still  the  summary  of  the  whole  table  shows  that  the 
beds  are  losing  their  fecundity,  and  that  the  crop  this 
winter  (1883-1884)  will  be  greater  than  it  will  be  the 
year  after. 

The  reasons  for  the  small  number  of  young  oysters 
we  believe  to  be,  in  part,  the  scarcity  of  mature  oysters 
to  furnish  spawn ;  in  part  the  wanton  destruction  of 
great  numbers  of  very  young  oysters  through  the  vio- 
lation of  culling  laws,  and  in  part  the  absence  of  enough 
clean  shells  on  the  beds  to  furnish  attachment  for  the 
spat. 

There  are  unlimited  numbers  of  old,  decayed  and 
dirty  shells  on  all  the  beds,  but  on  many  of  them  we 
found  hardly  a  single  shell  proper  for  the  attachment 
of  spat. 

We  regard  the  annual  examination  of  the  beds,  in 


THE   OYSTER.  l6l 

the  way  we  have  employed,  as  a  matter  of  very  great 
importance.  In  the  absence  of  such  observations  it  is 
impossible  to  state  with  perfect  certainty  how  many 
oysters  a  bed  may  yield  annually  without  injury.  This 
examination  should  be  made  every  year,  during  the 
same  months,  and  it  should  be  made  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  same  person,  in  the  same  way,  in  order 
that  the  results  may  admit  of  direct  comparison.  Pro- 
vision should  be  made  for  the  annual  examination  of 
all  the  beds  under  the  direct  control  of  the  State. 
The  proper  time  for  this  examination  is  the  closed 
season.  An  examination  after  the  year's  dredging 
would  show  how  many  full-grown  oysters  remain  and 
how  many  the  bed  might  safely  yield  during  the  next 
season.  If  the  examination  were  made  late  in  the 
summer  it  would  also  show  how  many  young  oysters 
have  become  attached  during  the  spawning  season. 

While  our  own  work  was  not  exhaustive  enough 
to  give  the  information  which  is  necessary  for  this  pur- 
pose, it  was  amply  sufficient  to  show  that  in  1882  and 
1883  the  deterioration  of  our  beds  had  made-  rapid 
progress,  and  that  our  system  of  managing  the  beds 
was  a  failure. 

The  next  step  in  our  inquiry  was  to  find  the  defects 
in  our  system,  and  to  point  out  the  reason  for  its  fail- 
ure, and  this  task  was  found  to  be  an  easy  one,  for 
the  experience  of  other  countries  which  have  passed 
through  the  same  history  gave  a  clear  and  simple  ex- 
planation. 

THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  EXHAUSTION  OF  THE  BEDS. 

While  the  reason  for  the  exhaustion  of  our  beds  is 


1 62  THE   OYSTER. 

perfectly  clear  and  simple,  the  greatest  ignorance  upon 
this  point  exists  in  the  minds  of  our  people. 

Certain  writers  have  attributed  the  destruction  of 
the  oysters  to  disease,  like  the  pious  oystermen  of 
Wellfleet,  on  Cape  Cod,  who,  after  they  had  extermin- 
ated their  oysters  by  over-fishing,  laid  their  loss  upon 
Providence,  which  had,  they  said,  punished  them  for 
their  sins  by  inflicting  a  fatal  disease  upon  the  inno- 
cent oysters. 

Some  of  the  explanations  of  the  destruction  of  the 
oysters  come  from  persons  who  have  enjoyed  such 
opportunities  for  observation  and  study  of  the  subject 
that  broader  views  might  fairly  be  expected  from  them. 
Thus,  to  explain  the  disappearance  of  oysters  from 
the  New  England  coast  north  of  Cape  Cod,  a  well- 
known  conchologist,  Dr.  Gould,  says  that  he  does  not 
believe  there  were  ever  any  oysters  there ;  while  a  very 
eminent  naturalist,  Prof.  Verrill,  holds  that  the  climate 
of  New  England  has  undergone  a  change  within  the 
last  century  or  two,  and  that  it  is  now  too  cold  for 
oysters,  although  a  few  scattered  oysters  are  found 
there  still,  and  although  they  are  still  abundant  at  some 
points  on  the  much  colder  coast  of  New  Brunswick, 
and  although  we  have  the  minute  accounts  which  the 
early  settlers  have  given  us  of  the  gradual  destruction 
of  their  oysters  as  the  population  increased. 

We  can  hardly  be  surprised  that  our  people  should 
exhibit  total  ignorance  of  the  true  cause  of  the  de- 
struction, when  we  recollect  that  there  is  not  a  single 
word  in  any  of  the  laws  of  Maryland  which  indicates 
that  our  legislators  are  aware  that  the  supply  of  oysters 
can  be  artificially  increased,  or  that  there  is  need  for 
any  such  increase. 


THE   OYSTER.  163 

The  contrast  between  the  views  upon  the  oyster 
question  which  are  now  prevalent  among  our  people, 
and  those  which  come  from  a  broad-minded  considera- 
tion of  the  question  in  all  its  relations,  can  be  illus- 
trated by  an  example.  The  uncivilized  Indians  are 
able  to  supply  all  their  wants  from  the  natural  re- 
sources of  their  hunting-grounds,  but  as  population 
increases,  food  grows  scarcer  and  hard  to  procure,  and 
it  soon  becomes  evident  that  the  natural  supply  is 
not  enough.  The  first  impulse,  in  such  an  emergency, 
is  to  restrict  the  demand,  by  driving  away  or  starving 
out  the  superfluous  population  ;  and  if  savage  tribes 
were  able  to  enact  and  enforce  laws,  they  would  no 
doubt  try  to  preserve  their  game  by  laws  restricting 
the  quantity  to  be  killed,  or  by  laws  forbidding  the  use 
of  improved  appliances  for  capturing  it. 

Civilized  races  have  long  recognized  the  fact  that 
the  true  remedy  is  not  to  limit  the  demand,  but  rather 
to  increase  the  supply  of  food,  by  rearing  domestic 
sheep  and  cattle  and  poultry  in  the  place  of  wild  deer 
and  buffaloes  and  turkeys,  and  by  cultivating  the 
ground  instead  of  searching  for  the  natural  fruits  and 
seeds  of  the  forests  and  swamps. 

It  is  not  in  a  spirit  of  harsh  criticism,  but  in  the 
hope  that  our  people  may  be  awakened  to  their  own 
interest,  that  we  point  out  the  similarity  between  the 
views  of  our  people  and  their  legislators  and  the 
opinions  of  savage  races.  We  live  in  a  highly  civil- 
ized age,  and  if  we  fail  to  grasp  its  spirit  we  shall  go 
to  the  wall  before  the  oyster  cultivators  of  the  North- 
ern States,  and  those  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
just  as  surely  as  the  Indians  have  been  exterminated 


1 64  THE   OYSTER. 

by  the  whites.  We  cannot  resist  the  progress  of 
events,  but  we  can  control  it  if  we  will  be  wise  in  time. 

It  is  not  essential  that  a  patient  should  know  the 
nature  and  cause  of  his  disease,  but  this  knowledge  is 
of  the  greatest  importance  to  his  physician,  and  it  is 
of  equal  importance  that  the  men  who  are  called  upon 
to  legislate  for  the  preservation  of  our  oysters  should 
clearly  understand  the  true  reason  for  their  destruction. 

I  state,  then,  in  capital  letters,  that  our  beds  are  in 
danger, 

BECAUSE  THE  DEMAND  HAS  OUTGROWN  THE  NATURAL 
SUPPLY. 

There  are  only  two  possible  remedies.  Either  we 
must  diminish  the  demand  by  killing  the  packing  in- 
dustry which  has  created  it,  or  we  must  increase  by 
artificial  means  the  natural  supply  of  oysters. 

Even  if  our  natural  beds  could  be  restored  and 
placed  as  they  were  twenty  years  ago,  this  would  only 
delay  for  a  few  years  their  final  exhaustion,  for  the  de- 
mand is  now  far  beyond  the  natural  productive  powers 
of  our  waters,  and  it  is  growing  greater  every  day. 

The  daily  papers  often  publish  letters  from  oyster- 
men  who  think  that  they  can  point  out  the  true  remedy, 
and  the  proposed  remedies  are  almost  as  numerous  as 
the  authors,  and  nearly  all  the  letters  give  statements 
which,  while  they  are  perfectly  true,  are  based  upon 
such  narrow  experience  that  they  are  of  little  or  no 
value  as  contributions  to  a  broad,  comprehensive  view 
of  the  problem. 

The  tongmen  know  that  most  of  the  oysters  have 
been  taken  away  by  the  dredgers,  and  they  therefore 


THE   OYSTER.  165 

advocate  the  prohibition  or  restriction  of  dredging. 
Ignorant  of  the  fact  that  in  localities  where  no  dredg- 
ing has  been  allowed,  the  natural  beds  have  been  ex- 
hausted by  tongmen  just  as  soon  as  a  demand  for  the 
oysters  sprung  up,  they  believe  that  the  prohibition  of 
dredging  is  all  that  is  needed  to  restore  the  beds.  The 
dredgers,  on  the  other  hand,  attribute  the  injury  to 
the  law  which  allows  the  tongmen  to  take  oysters  for 
private  use  in  the  summer,  forgetting  that  the  beds  of 
Connecticut  are  rapidly  increasing  in  value  under  a 
law  which  allows  not  only  tonging,  but  dredging  as 
well  all  through  the  year.  The  small  dredgers  and 
scrapers  hold  that  the  larger  vessels  are  destroying  the 
oysters  by  the  use  of  heavy  dredges,  although  the 
Connecticut  farmers  find  it  to  their  interest  to  use  on 
their  own  private  beds  far  heavier  dredges,  which  they 
drag  over  the  beds  by  steam. 

Many  of  the  oyster-packers,  who  carry  on  their  busi- 
ness only  in  the  winter,  believe  that  all  the  damage  is 
due  to  the  oystermen  who  fish  in  March,  April  and 
May,  and  men  who  have  money  invested  in  the  oys- 
ter business  in  Maryland  believe  that  the  exportation 
of  oysters  in  the  shell,  and  especially  oysters  for  plant- 
ing in  Northern  waters,  is  the  cause  of  the  mischief. 

All  agree  in  throwing  the  blame  on  some  one  else, 
and  all  believe  that  some  form  of  the  business  in  which 
they  are  not  interested  is  responsible  for  the  present 
state  of  things  and  should  be  prohibited ;  but  as  the 
oyster  navy  is  a  convenient  scapegoat,  all  parties  unite 
in  throwing  the  blame  upon  the  officers  of  the  Fishery 
Force. 

While  the  views  of  the  oystermen  are  in  this  state 


1 66  THE  OYSTER. 

of  confusion,  all  students  of  the  subject  are  agreed  as 
to  the  cause  of  the  mischief.  As  Lieutenant  Winslow 
well  said  in  1883,  not  only  must  the  fecundity  of  the 
beds  be  preserved,  but  the  rnarket  supply  must  also 
be  kept  up  to  the  present  demand,  if  not  actually  in- 
creased ;  and  is  a  cessation  of  dredging  likely  to  ac- 
complish the  latter  end,  when  at  present  the  vast  fleet 
of  pungies  and  canoes  are  straining  every  rope  and 
windlass  and  openly  violating  every  law  of  two  power- 
ful States  in  order  to  find  oysters  in  the  required  num- 
bers ?  The  truth  is  that  the  Chesapeake  beds  are  no 
longer  equal  to  the  demands  made  upon  them.  Some 
policy  must  be  adopted  which  will  supplement  the  sup- 
ply granted  by  nature,  or  else  the  supply  will  surely 
fail. 

No  mere  restriction  of  the  fishing  can  possibly  ac- 
complish the  desired  end.  It  may  prevent  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  beds  as  they  are  now,  though  that  is  doubt- 
ful. It  certainly  will  not  relieve  in  the  least  the  pres- 
ent condition  of  the  market.  What  should  be  done  is 
to  adopt  a  policy  similar  in  essential  features  to  that 
of  Connecticut.  The  fishery  of  that  State  is  one  of  the 
few  instances  of  recuperation  on  record.  I  know  of 
many  destroyed  oyster  fisheries,  and  I  know  of  a  few 
that  have  been  rebuilt,  and  I  find  one  cause  common 
to  all  failures  and  as  common  to  all  successes.  In  the 
first  instance,  the  fishery  has  been  common  property, 
its  preservation  everybody's  business — that  is,  no- 
body's— and  consequently  it  has  not  been  preserved. 
In  the  second  instance,  the  fishery  has  been  conducted 
and  owned  by  persons  singly  and  together  as  private 
property ;  it  has  been  this,  that  or  the  other  man's 


THE   dVSTEK.  167 

business  to  see  to  its  preservation  ;  that  is,  its  preser- 
vation has  been  everybody's  business  instead  of  no- 
body's, and  consequently  it  has  been  preserved. 

Maryland  cannot  escape  the  action  of  universal  laws, 
and  the  sooner  those  interested  in  the  matter  recognize 
the  fact,  and  that  a  man  does  best  by  his  own,  whether 
it  be  a  wheat  or  oyster  farm,  the  sooner  will  a  correct 
conclusion  be  reached  regarding  the  oyster  question. 

It  seems  as  if  there  were  little  probability,  even  at 
the  present  day,  of  the  necessary  change  in  Maryland's 
policy.  Things  of  this  kind,  which  so  vitally  interest 
our  whole  community,  rarely  get  better  until  they  have 
become  decidedly  worse.  The  current  of  public 
opinion  must  be  turned  in  the  right  direction  by  dis- 
aster, caused  by  allowing  ruinous  systems  to  remain 
in  force ;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  a  point  will  soon 
be  reached  where  our  people  will  become  alive  to  the 
situation  and  apply  the  remedy. 

If,  however,  the  present  system  must  remain  in  force, 
there  are  some  suggestions  which  may  be  offered 
which,  though  they  could  never  restore  our  lost  in- 
dustry, might  save  our  natural  beds  from  complete 
destruction. 

One  explanation  which  has  been  urged  to  account 
for  the  destruction  of  our  oyster-beds  is  the  wanton  or 
unnecessary  destruction  of  young  oysters.  Upon  the 
piles  of  shells  which  are  thrown  out  from  the  packing- 
houses great  numbers  of  young  shells  can  often  be 
found.  They  are,  of  course,  dead,  and  as  they  are  too 
small  to  be  of  any  use,  their  destruction  is  a  clear  loss 
to  our  people.  It  is  impossible  to  prevent  this  from  hap- 
pening occasionally,  as  in  many  cases  the  little  oysters 


1 68  THE   OYSTER. 

are  so  small  and  so  firmly  fastened  to  the  old  one  that 
they  cannot  be  removed  without  destroying  them,  and 
even  if  the  oystermen  could  be  compelled  to  throw 
back  on  to  the  beds  any  large  oyster  which  has  small 
ones  fastened  to  it,  there  is  reason  to  doubt  whether 
this  would  be  advantageous,  for  one  full-grown  oyster, 
like  a  bird  in  the  hand,  is  more  valuable  than  two 
small  ones  which  may  or  may  not  grow  up  to  matur- 
ity. I  believe,  however,  that  in  cases  where  great 
numbers  of  young  are  fastened  to  the  large  ones,  the 
use  or  destruction  of  them  at  the  packing-house  should 
be  discouraged.  This  difficulty  will  disappear  with 
the  growth  of  the  planting  industry,  for  small  oysters 
will  then  be  valuable  as  seed,  and  they  will  pass  into 
the  hands  of  the  planters  instead  of  going  to  the  pack- 
ing-houses. The  true  remedy,  therefore,  is  the  en- 
couragement of  planting,  and  if  our  people  would  de- 
velop this  business  immediately,  all  need  for  special 
legislation  would  disappear. 

The  destruction  of  young  oysters  at  the  packing- 
houses is  trifling,  however,  compared  with  that  which 
results  from  violations  of  the  culling  laws.  When  a 
dredge  is  brought  up  from  an  oyster-bed  it  usually 
contains  a  few  marketable  oysters  and  great  quantities 
of  empty  shells,  which  are  often  covered  with  young 
oysters.  The  law  requires  that  these  shells  shall  be 
thrown  back  upon  the  beds  where  they  are  taken, 
under  a  penalty  of  three  years'  imprisonment,  or  three 
hundred  dollars  fine,  or  the  forfeiture  of  the  boat  used, 
but  the  enactment  of  this  law  has  failed  to  remedy  the 
evil.  It  is  and  always  must  be  very  difficult  to  enforce 
a  culling  law,  and  as  the  captain  of  a  dredging  boat 


THE   OYSTER.  169 

wishes  to  improve  his  time  on  the  beds  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  to  make  the  most  of  pleasant  weather 
while  it  lasts,  it  is,  of  course,  to  his  interest  to  fill  his 
boat  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  all  hands  are  there- 
fore so  fully  employed  in  catching  oysters  that  there 
is  no  time  to  cull  them.  Even  when  a  captain  is  dis- 
posed to  cull  on  the  beds,  he  may  be  compelled  by 
stormy  weather, to  run  for  harbor,  and  will  then  employ 
his  crew  in  culling  the  oysters  while  lying  in  harbor. 
The  shells  are  then  dumped  overboard  in  heaps  around 
the  anchorage,  and  even  if  the  bottom  should  by  chance 
be  favorable  for  the  growth  of  the  oysters,  they  are 
smothered  and  killed  under  the  heaps  of  shells. 

The  only  way  in  which  this  can  be  prevented  is  by 
making  it  to  the  interest  of  the  fisherman  to  save  rather 
than  to  destroy  the  small  oysters,  and  this  can  be  done 
by  the  encouragement  of  planting.  There  is  enough 
suitable  ground  under  our  waters  to  rear  to  maturity 
all  the  seed  oysters  which  the  natural  beds  can  yield, 
and  the  time  is  sure  to  come  when  it  will  not, pay  the 
fisherman  to  destroy  those  which  cannot  be  sold  to 
the  packers,  and  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  legislate  for 
their  protection. 

The  aim  of  the  culling  law  is  twofold  :  first,  to  pre- 
serve the  young  oysters,  and  secondly,  to  compel  the 
return  of  the  dead  shells  to  the  beds,  that  they  may 
serve  for  the  attachment  of  spat. 

The  value  of  these  shells  for  this  purpose  is  not  very 
great,  as  they  are  usually  decayed  and  slimy  and  cov- 
ered with  sponge,  but  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  they 
are  sufficiently  valuable  to  justify  the  culling  law. 
The  dry,  clean  shells  which  accumulate  at  the  packing 


170  THE  OYSTER. 

houses  during  the  winter  are  far  more  valuable,  and  if 
these  could  be  returned  to  the  beds  in  the  summer,  a 
great  increase  in  fertility  would  certainly  follow. 

The  improvidence  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
in  dealing  with  their  oysters,  so  long  as  they  were 
abundant,  has  been  almost  beyond  belief.  The  early 
settlers  found  at  their  doors  a  supply  which  they  re- 
garded as  inexhaustible,  and  they  not  only  used  them 
freely  as  food,  but  they  also  spread  them  upon  their 
fields  as  manure,  and  poured  them,  alive,  into  their 
lime-kilns  and  iron  furnaces.  In  the  Northern  States 
the  beds  soon  showed  signs  of  exhaustion,  and  these 
practices  were  prohibited  by  law. 

As  it  has  taken  our  people  nearly  two  hundred 
years  to  discover  that  we  cannot  afford  to  destroy 
oysters  in  this  way,  we  can  hardly  expect  them  to  per- 
ceive that  clean,  empty  shells  are  also  so  valuable  that 
their  use  for  lime,  road-making,  etc.,  should  be  pro- 
hibited. 

I  called  attention  to  the  very  great  value  of  oyster 
shells  in  1879,  m  an  appendix  to  the  report  of  the 
Fish  Commission,  and  showed  that  a  great  increase 
of  fertility  would  follow  the  return  of  the  shells  to  the 
waters  of  our  bay. 

If  this  advice  had  been  followed  at  the  time  it  was 
given,  our  oyster-beds  would  now  be  much  more  valu- 
able, but  no  attention  was  paid  to  it. 

The  Commissioners  of  Shell  Fisheries  of  the  State 
of  Rhode  Island,  in  their  annual  report  for  the  year 
1882,  make  the  following  statement  upon  this  sub- 
ject: 

"  The  oyster  shells,  which  have  for  years  back  been 


THE  OYSTER.  I/ 1 

considered  almost  worthless,  have,  within  a  short  time, 
become  valuable  to  the  oyster  fisheries.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  large  quantities  of  shells  are  purchased 
here  from  the  oyster  business,  and  these  shells,  which 
have  until  a  short  time  been  considered  worthless,  are 
now  selling  for  from  eight  to  ten  cents  per  bushel,  to 
be  carried  out  of  the  State  (mostly  to  New  Haven)  for 
the  purpose  of  planting  them  in  deep  water  in  Long 
Island  Sound,  to  catch  the  oyster  spawn  and  for  the 
raising  of  oyster  seed.  These  shells  are  taken  up  at 
the  expiration  of  two  years,  and,  with  the  increase  of 
oysters  adhering  to  them,  are  brought  back  to  the 
same  parties  selling  the  shells  in  the  first  instance,  for 
the  purpose  of  planting  in  our  waters,  and  the  price 
paid  for  them  is  from  forty  to  fifty  cents  per  bushel." 

The  statement  which  I  made  twelve  years  ago,  that 
this  is  a  matter  of  great  importance,  has  been  passed 
over  in  absolute  silence  and  has  attracted  no  attention. 
It  seems  now  as  if  it  were  almost  time  that  the  enter- 
prise of  practical  Connecticut  oystermen  should  have 
taught  our  people  a  lesson  which  they  would  not  learn 
from  a  scientific  student.  Years  ago  I  recommended 
that  laws  be  passed  requiring  the  return  of  shells  to 
the  beds.  The  simplest  way  in  which  this  could  be 
done  would  be  to  adopt  the  Connecticut  plan  of  pri- 
vate farming,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  just  so  soon  as 
the  fruits  of  private  enterprise  are  secured  to  the  cul- 
tivators, private  interest  will  lead  to  the  return  of  the 
shells  to  the  water,  as  it  has  already  done  in  Connec- 
ticut. 

One  of  the  causes  to  which  the  destruction  of  our 
oyster-beds  is  often  attributed  is  the  exportation  of 


1/2  THE  OYSTER. 

small  oysters  into  other  States.  I  have  tried  to  gather 
information  as  to  the  extent  to  which  this  is  practiced, 
but  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  exact  statistics. 

In  discussing  this  subject  we  must  bear  in  mind 
the  fact  that  Northern  fishermen  or  boats  are  not 
allowed  to  catch  oysters  in  our  waters,  and  that  the 
industry  contributes  to  our  State  treasury  and  gives 
employment  to  our  people ;  for  all  the  oysters  which 
are  exported  for  planting  must  be  purchased  from  our 
licensed  fishermen.  Any  person  who  lawfully  owns 
oysters  clearly  has  the  right  to  dispose  of  them  in  the 
best  market,  and  nothing  can  be  done  directly  to  pre- 
vent our  oystermen  from  selling  to  Northern  planters 
when  it  is  to  their  interest  to  do  so. 

So  far  as  the  exported  oysters  are  mature  and  mar- 
ketable for  food,  it  is  obviously  to  our  interest  to  encour- 
age the  business,  which  is  perfectly  legitimate. 

The  only  ground  upon  which  the  practice  can  be 
objected  to  is,  that  it  leads  to  the  sale  by  our  people  of 
oysters  which  would  be  much  more  valuable  to  them 
if  they  could  be  kept  in  our  own  waters  until  they 
reached  maturity.  Oysters  which  cost  the  Delaware 
planters  twenty-five  cents  per  bushel  are  resold  in  a 
few  months  for  eighty  cents  per  bushel,  and  many  of 
them  are  bought  by  Maryland  packers.  The  policy 
of  allowing  our  impoverished  beds  to  enrich  the  citi- 
zens of  another  State  is  an  unwise  one,  but  it  is  proper 
to  point  out  the  fact  that  there  is  no  reason  why  our 
own  people  should  not  themselves  have  this  profit  of 
55  cents  a  bushel. 

It  must  be  obvious  to  every  one  that  the  true 
remedy  is  to  encourage  planting  in  oiir  own  waters.  We 


THE    OYSTER.  173 

have  vastly  more  land  suitable  for  the  purpose  than 
the  State  of  Delaware,  and  as  our  own  planters  are  on 
the  ground,  they  would  have  no  canal  fees  or  transpor- 
tation to  pay,  and  they  could,  if  they  choose,  secure 
all  these  oysters  for  their  own  use,  and  gain  the  profit 
which  now  goes  elsewhere.  The  development  of  the 
Maryland  planting  industry  is,  therefore,  the  true 
remedy  for  the  evil.  When  we  have,  as  we  easily 
might,  more  seed  oysters  than  we  can  use,  the  exporta- 
tion of  seed  will  become  a  legitimate  and  profitable 
branch  of  the  industry  well  worthy  of  encouragement. 
The  favorite  remedy  for  the  difficulty,  at  least 
among  those  fishermen  who  are  not  dredgers,  is  the 
prohibition  of  dredging.  Everyone  knows  that  our 
beds  have  deteriorated  because  they  have  been  exces- 
sively fished,  and  every  one  knows,  too,  that  most  of 
this  fishing  has  been  done  by  dredgers.  It  is  there- 
fore natural  to  conclude  that  since  the  dredgers  have 
done  the  damage,  the  prohibition  of  dredging  will  cure 
the  mischief,  but  this  is  by  no  means  true.  The  great 
demand  for  oysters,  which  has  come  from  the  growth 
of  the  packing  industry,  has  been  supplied  by  dredg- 
ers, because  the  dredge  is  more  effective  and  economi- 
cal than  the  oyster-tongs  ;  but  if  dredges  had  not  been 
invented,  the  demand  would  still  have  been  supplied 
by  the  much  more  expensive  and  laborious  method  of 
tonging,  and  the  prohibition  of  dredging  now  would 
simply  cause  an  increase  in  the  number  of  tongmen. 
It  would  not,  however,  cause  any  increase  in  the 
wages  of  tongmen  or  in  the  price  of  oysters,  unless 
the  importation  of  oysters  from  States  where  dredging 
is  permitted  were  forbidden,  and  this  would  require 


174  THE  OYSTER. 

an  amendment  to  one  of  the  most  important  clauses 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  beds 
in  deep  water  would  escape,  but  they  would  then  be, 
like  many  of  the  deep-water  beds  of  Virginia,  of  no 
use  to  any  one  except  pirates,  and  all  the  beds  which 
could  be  reached  by  tongs  would  be  as  badly  off  as 
ever. 

In  order  to  show  that  this  is  the  case,  and  that 
where  no  dredges  are  used  the  excessive  working  of 
beds  with  tongs  soon  causes  their  destruction,  we  will 
here  note  a  number  of  cases  where  beds  have  been 
exterminated  with  tongs  alone. 

In  1874  the  officers  of  the  United  States  Coast  Sur- 
vey found  a  number  of  fine  beds  of  valuable  oysters 
near  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.  Many  fine  beds 
were  found  in  this  region  by  the  earlier  settlers,  but 
they  were  destroyed  so  long  ago  that  none  of  the 
natives  had  any  knowledge  of  oyster-fishing  or  any 
instruments  for  taking  the  oysters ;  but  it  happened 
that  an  old  oysterman  from  the  Chesapeake  Bay  was 
living  near-by,  and  he  sent  to  Providence  for  oyster- 
tongs  and  began  tonging  upon  the  newly  discovered 
beds.  His  example  was  imitated  so  effectively  that 
in  five  years  the  beds  were  exhausted  and  ceased  to 
be  productive. 

Ingersoll  tells  us  that  from  the  earliest  times  the 
borders  of  the  Quinepiac  River,  near  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  have  been  the  scene  of  oyster  operations. 
The  earliest  settlers  found  on  its  shores  great  mounds 
of  oyster  shells,  which  showed  that  the  Indians  had 
resorted  to  its  beds,  season  after  season,  for  an  un- 
known period.  The  first  white  fisherman  found  nat- 


THE  OYSTER.  1/5 

ural  beds  scattered  over  the  bottom  of  the  whole 
river,  as  well  as  in  favorable  areas  along  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  harbor.  All  of  the  beds  were  easy  of 
access,  and  the  result  was  that  the  raking  of  oysters 
was  soon  adopted  as  a  business  by  many  persons  who 
lived  near  the  water,  and  a  considerable  retail  ped- 
dling trade  was  thus  kept  up  throughout  the  neigh- 
borhood, in  addition  to  the  home  supply.  Wagon  loads 
of  opened  oysters  traveled  in  winter  to  the  interior 
towns,  even  as  far  as  Albany,  and  thence  westward  by 
canal. 

These  beds  continued  to  supply  fine  oysters  for  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  country  for  many 
years,  but  they  have  long  been  worthless  as  a  supply 
of  food,  although  they  still  yield  small  oysters,  which 
are  used  as  "  seed  "  for  planting.  The  beds  were  ex- 
hausted by  tongs,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
nearly  all  of  the  oysters  were  removed  in  a  single  day 
in  each  year.  After  the  beds  were  closed  by  law 
until  November  I,  great  crowds  assembled  on  the 
banks  of  the  river,  on  the  last  night  of  October,  and 
at  the  striking  of  midnight  by  the  town-clock,  began 
an  attack  which  cleaned  the  beds  of  most  of  their  mar- 
ketable oysters  before  the  end  of  the  day,  and  a  few 
hours  of  this  fishing  resulted  in  the  capture  of  all  mar- 
ketable oysters. 

Native  oysters  were  abundant  at  Wellfleet,  on  Cape 
Cod,  at  the  time  of  the  first  white  settlements,  and  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years  the  town  was  famous  for 
its  oysters,  but  they  became  extinct  in  1775,  through 
excessive  tonging,  although  the  inhabitants  attributed 
their  destruction  not  to  their  own  rapacity,  but  to  a 


176  THE  OYSTER. 

disease  sent  by  Providence  upon  the  oysters,  as  a 
punishment  for  the  sins  of  the  fishermen,  who  cer- 
tainly were  more  worthy  of  such  an  infliction  than  the 
helpless  oysters. 

In  all  of  these  cases  the  exhaustion  of  the  beds  has 
been  brought  about  almost  or  entirely  without  the  use 
of  dredges,  although  in  a  few  cRses  dredges  may  have 
been  used  to  a  slight  extent. 

The  list  might  be  greatly  extended  were  it  not  for 
the  fact  that  upon  all  the  more  southerly  beds  dredges 
as  well  as  tongs  have  been  used. 

Enough  instances  have  been  given  to  show  that  the 
prohibition  of  dredging  will  not  save  any  bed  which 
can  be  reached  with  tongs,  and  as  the  dredge  is  much 
more  scientific,  effective  and  economical  apparatus 
than  the  rude  tongs  which  it  has  superseded,  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  any  reason  why  its  use  should  be 
prohibited. 

In  one  way  the  use  of  dredges  is  a  positive  advan- 
tage to  the  beds.  On  a  natural  bed  which  has  never 
been  dredged,  the  oysters  grow  side  by  side  in  clus- 
ters, so  crowded  together  that  they  have  no  room  to 
grow.  Most  of  them  die  when  very  young,  and  the 
others  become  long  and  thin.  The  dredge  breaks  up 
and  scatters  these  bunches,  and  gives  the  oysters  room 
to  grow  and  to  become  valuable ;  and  by  scattering 
the  shells,  dredging  causes  an  increase  in  the  area  of 
the  natural  bed. 

It  is  asserted  that  the  heavy  dredges  crush  and  kill 
the  young  oysters,  and  drag  them  into  the  mud  and 
smother  them,  but  the  private  farmers  of  Connecticut 
find  it  to  their  advantage  to  drag  over  their  farms,  by 


THE  OYSTER.  177 

the  aid  of  steam,  dredges  very  much  larger  than  any 
which  are  used  in  Maryland.  They  use  these  heavy 
dredges  in  the  summer  when  the  young  oysters  are 
very  small  and  fragile,  as  well  as  in  the  winter,  yet 
their  farms  are  improved  by  this  treatment. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  little  oysters  are  some- 
times broken  and  killed  by  the  dredge,  but  the  de- 
struction of  oysters  in  this  way  is  so  slight  as  to  have 
no  significance.  I  have  paid  especial  attention  to  the 
matter  while  dredging  for  oysters,  and  the  number 
broken  or  injured  by  the  dredge  is  surprisingly  small. 
Young  oysters  fasten  themselves  flat  upon  the  surface 
of  attachment,  and  they  do  not  begin  to  grow  up  and  to 
become  erect  until  they  are  large  enough  to  crowd 
each  other,  and  by  this  time  they  are  large  enough  to 
withstand  the  dredge  without  injury. 

After  most  careful  examination  of  the  subject  I  am 
convinced  that  there  is  no  objection  to  dredging  which 
does  not  apply  with  equal  force  to  all  other  methods 
of  oystering,  and  the  interest  of  the  community  de- 
mands the  employment  of  improved  methods  and 
cheap  and  effective  labor-saving  appliances. 

What  is  needed  is  more  oysters:  not  the  prohibi- 
tion of  effective  methods  of  catching  them. 

No  animal  upon  earth,  large  enough  to  be  valuable 
as  human  food,  can  long  survive  the  attacks  of  an  enemy 
who  brings  against  it  the  resources,  the  destructive 
weapons,  and  the  intelligence  of  civilized  man.  For- 
tunately, the  resources  which  render  man  the  most  irre- 
sistible of  enemies,  also  enable  him  to  become  a  pro- 
ducer as  well  as  a  destroyer ;  and  while  the  fear  of  him 
and  the  dread  of  him  is  upon  every  beast  of  the  earth 


178  THE  OYSTER. 

and  upon  every  fowl  of  the  air,  and  upon  all  that 
moveth  upon  the  earth  and  upon  all  the  fishes  of  the 
sea,  while  they  are  all  delivered  into  his  hands  and  are 
powerless  to  resist  him,  he  alone,  of  all  animals,  is  able 
to  make  good  his  ravages,  by  agriculture  and  by 
domestication,  by  the  selection  and  improvement  of 
animals  and  plants,  and  by  artificial  propagation. 

In  the  year  1880  the  fisheries  census,  and  special 
investigations  under  the  direction  of  the  U.  S.  Fish 
Commission,  proved  that  there  had  been  a  most  rapid 
and  alarming  decline  in  the  value  of  the  shad  fisheries 
in  the  rivers  and  bays  and  sounds  of  our  Atlantic 
coast,  and  that  there  was  every  reason  to  fear  that  in 
a  few  years  the  shad  would  cease  to  be  of  any  value  as 
a  food  supply. 

The  adult  shad  are  oceanic  fishes,  but  each  spring 
they  enter  our  inlets  and  bays  and  make  their  way 
up  to  the  fresh-water  streams  where  they  deposit  their 
eggs. 

The  supply  for  the  market  is  caught  during  this 
spring  migration,  when  the  fishes  enter  our  inland 
waters  heavy  and  fat  after  their  winter's  feast  upon  the 
abundant  food  which  they  find  in  the  ocean.  As  they 
spend  most  of  the  year  gathering  up  and  converting 
into  the  substance  of  their  own  bodies  the  minute 
marine  organisms  which  would  otherwise  be  of  no 
value  to  man,  and  as  their  instincts  compel  them  to 
bring  back  to  our  very  doors  this  great  addition  to  our 
food  supply,  and  thus  put  at  our  service  a  great  And 
fertile  area  of  the  ocean,  which  without  their  aid  would 
be  beyond  our  control  and  of  no  value  to  man,  their 
economic  importance  is  very  great,  and  their  extinction 
would  be  a  national  calamity. 


THE  OYSTER. 

In  1880  the  fishermen  of  the  interior  believed  that 
the  fishermen  in  lower  waters,  nearer  the  ocean,  were 
to  blame  for  the  decline  of  the  fisheries.  They  com- 
plained of  the  erection  of  pounds  and  weirs  along  the 
shores  of  the  salt-water  bays  and  sounds,  where  the 
fishes  were  captured  in  great  numbers  far  away  from 
their  spawning  grounds.  They  believed  that  legisla- 
tion could  save  the  fishery,  and  that  if  these  obstruc- 
tions were  prohibited  by  law  and  removed,  and  all  the 
shad  were  permitted  to  reach  fresh  water  before  they 
were  captured,  enough  eggs  would  be  deposited  to 
keep  up  the  supply,  but  that  the  destruction  of  such 
numbers  in  salt  water  must  necessarily  result  in  exter- 
mination. 

This  seemed  to  fresh-water  fishermen  to  be  good 
logic,  but  the  salt-water  fishermen  took  a  different  view 
of  the  matter.  They  wanted  more  legislation  them- 
selves, but  of  a  different  sort,  and  claimed  that  what 
was  needed  was  protection  for  the  shad  upon  the 
spawning  ground.  They  said  that  they  themselves  fur- 
nished most  of  the  shad  for  the  market;  that  without 
them  the  cities  could  not  be  supplied,  and  that  enough 
shad  escaped  their  nets  and  reached  the  fresh  water 
to  supply  all  the  eggs  that  were  needed,  if  they  could 
be  left  to  lay  their  eggs  in  peace. 

In  1880  there  seemed  to  be  good  sense  in  this  view 
also,  and  it  was  difficult  for  a  disinterested  outsider  to 
tell  who  was  right.  The  only  thing  which  seemed  clear 
was  that  the  shad  were  growing  scarce,  and  that,  if 
the  Legislature  did  not  do  something  to  protect  them, 
they  would  soon  be  exterminated. 

In  1888  more  shad  were  caught  in  salt  water  than 


i So  THE  OYSTER. 

were  caught  altogether  in  1880,  and  yet  the  shad  fish- 
eries are  now  increasing  in  value  from  year  to  year, 
and  this  change  has  been  brought  about,  not  by  the 
enactment  of  new  laws  to  restrict  the  fishery,  but  by 
the  production  of  more  fishes. 

In  1880  the  U.  S.  Fish  Commission  began,  sys- 
tematically and  upon  a  large  scale,  the  work  of  collect- 
ing the  eggs  from  the  bodies  of  the  shad  which  were 
captured  for  the  market,  in  the  nets  of  the  fishermen. 
These  eggs  were  artificially  fertilized  and  the  young 
were  kept  for  a  short  time  in  hatching  jars,  and  the 
waste  of  eggs  was  thus  prevented.  This  work  has 
been  prosecuted  steadily  ever  since,  and  the  results,  up 
to  the  end  of  the  season  of  1 888,  are  given  in  the  follow- 
ing table : 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  SHAD  TAKEN  EACH  YEAR. 

In  Salt  and  Percentage  of  in- 

Brackish  Water.        In  Rivers.  Total.  crease  over  1880. 

1880  2,549,544  1,591,424  4,140,968 

1885  3,267,497  1,906,434  5,172,931  2 5. per  cent. 

1886  3,098,768  2,485,000  5,584,368  .34 

1887  3,813,744  2,901,661  6,715,405  62       " 

1888  5,010,101  2,650,373  7,660,474  85       " 

The  money  value  to  the  fishermen  of  the  excess  in 
1888  over  the  total  catch  of  1880  was  more  than 
$700,000.  I  have  no  record  for  1889  or  1890,  but 
last  year,  1890,  the  fisheries  were  more  profitable  than 
they  have  been  for  many  years,  and  our  markets  were 
stocked  with  an  abundance  of  fine  shad,  which  were 
sold  at  prices  which  ten  years  ago  would  not  have  been 
thought  possible.  The  percentage  of  increase  in  1889 


THE  OYSTER.  l8l 

and  1890  has  been  much  greater  than  it  was  in  any  of 
the  years  given  in  the  table,  and  this  result  is  not  due 
to  any  change  in  the  method  of  fishing.  It  is  exclu- 
sively due  to  the  increase  in  the  supply. 

The  conditions  are  now  more  unfavorable  than  ever 
to  natural  reproduction,  and  it  can  be  proved  that  if 
no  shad  had  been  produced  by  man,  while  the  other 
factors  had  remained  as  they  now  are,  the  fisheries 
would  be  completely  ruined  and  abandoned. 

The  mature  fishes  are  now  excluded  by  dams  and 
other  obstructions  from  the  most  valuable  spawning 
grounds,  and  the  area  which  is  now  available  is  re- 
stricted to  the  lower  reaches  of  the  rivers,  where  there 
is  little  proper  food  for  the  young,  and  where  the  bot- 
toms are  so  continually  and  assiduously  swept  by  drift 
nets  and  seines  that  each  fish  is  surely  captured  soon 
after  its  arrival:  The  number  of  eggs  which  are 
naturally  deposited  is  now  very  small,  for  while  the 
spawning-grounds  have  increased  from  1,600,000  to 
2,600,000,  the  take  in  salt  water  has  increased  from 
2,500,000  to  5,000,000,  and  the  shores  of  our  bays 
and  sounds  are  now  so  lined  by  fyke  nets  and  pounds 
that  the  number  of  shad  which  reach  the  spawning- 
grounds  at  all  is  proportionately  much  less  than  it  was 
in  1880,  and  more  shad  are  now  taken  each  year  in 
salt  water,  where  spawning  is  impossible,  than  were 
taken  altogether  in  1880. 

This  fact,  rightly  considered,  means  that  the  shad  is 
now  an  artificial  product,  like  the  crops  of  grain  and 
fruit  which  are  harvested  on  our  farms  and  orchards. 

If  more  shad  than  the  natural  supply  were  taken  in 
1880  in  all  waters,  and  if  still  greater  numbers  are  now 


1 82  THE   OYSTER  ^ 

taken  each  year  in  deep  water,  before  they  reach  the 
spawning-ground,  it  follows  that  we  are  now  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  artificial  supply. 

This  short  history  will  serve  to  show  that  we  must 
look  to  an  increase  in  the  supply  of  oysters  as  the  only 
remedy  for  the  scarcity,  and  that  we  can  hope  for  no 
benefit  from  new  laws  to  regulate  the  method  of  taking 
the  oysters. 

I  must  insist,  however,  upon  one  most  important 
difference  between  the  shad  and  the  oyster.  The  shad 
goes  out  into  the  ocean  to  pasture,  and  it  is  at  this 
time  beyond  the  direct  control  of  man.  During  its 
migration  it  may  pass  through  the  waters  of  two  or 
three  States  before  it  reaches  its  feeding-ground,  and 
private  ownership  and  protection  of  shad  is  impossible. 
The  work  of  shad-hatching  is  therefore  a  proper 
object  for  the  employment  of  the  Government,  but 
there  is  no  reason  for  Government  oyster-farming,  for 
the  oyster  is  as  sedentary  as  a  potato,  and  it  is  there- 
fore perfectly  adapted  for  propagation  by  individuals. 

Among  the  remedies  for  the  destruction  of  the  oys- 
ter-beds the  shortening  of  the  season  is  a  favorite 
measure,  and  it  has  many  advocates.  This  remedy 
seems,  at  first  sight,  to  be  an  effective  one,  but  a  little 
thought  shows  that  it  is,  in  reality,  of  no  very  great 
value. 

So  long  as  our  present  oyster  policy  is  maintained 
it  will  be  necessary  to  have  a  closed  season  to  facili- 
tate the  enforcement  of  other  legal  measures,  but  as 
it  is  clear  to  every  one  that  a  great  number  of  fisher- 
men working  upon  a  bed  for  a  short  season  will  do 
just  as  much  damage  as  a  lesser  number  working  for 


THE   OYSTER.  183 

a  longer  time,  we  cannot  hope  that  laws  to  shorten  the 
season  will,  in  themselves,  effect  any  great  improve- 
ment in  the  condition  of  the  beds. 

Ingersoll  gives  a  very  vivid  description  of  the 
method  of  fishing  in  early  days,  upon  one  of  the 
natural  beds  of  Connecticut,  and  as  this  bed  was  finally 
exterminated  by  little  more  than  one  day's  fishing  in 
each  year,  we  quote  his  account  in  order  to  show  how 
little  protection  a  closed  season  can  afford. 

Ingersoll  says  :  "  The  law  was  '  off'  on  the  1st  day 
of  November,  and  all  the  natural  beds  of  the  State 
became  open  to  any  person  who  wished  to  rake  them. 
In  anticipation  of  the  date,  great  preparations  were 
made  in  the  towns  along  the  shore  and  even  for  twenty 
miles  back  from  the  seaside.  Boats  and  rakes  and 
baskets  and  bags  were  put  in  order.  The  day  before, 
large  numbers  of  wagons  came  toward  the  shore  from 
the  back  country,  bringing  hundreds  of  men  with  their 
utensils.  Among  these  were  not  unfrequently  seen 
boats,  borne  in  the  rigging  of  a  hay-cart,  ready  to  be 
launched  on  the  expected  morning.  It  was  a  time  of 
great  excitement,  and  nowhere  greater  than  along  the 
Quinepiac.  On  the  day  preceding,  farmers  flocked 
into  Fair  Haven  from  all  the  surrounding  country,  and 
brought  with  them  boats  and  canoes,  of  antique  pat- 
tern and  ruinous  aspect.  These  rustics  always  met 
with  a  riotous  welcome  from  the  town-boys,  who  hated 
rural  competition.  They  were  very  likely  to  find  their 
boats,  if  not  carefully  watched,  stolen  and  hidden 
before  they  had  a  chance  to  launch  them,  or  even  tem- 
porarily disabled.  These  things  diversified  the  day 
and  enlivened  a  community  usually  very  peaceful,  if 


1 84  THE  OYSTER. 

not  dull.  As  midnight  approached,  men  dressed  in 
oilskin,  and  carrying  oars,  paddles,  rakes  and  tongs, 
collected  all  along  the  shore,  where  a  crowd  of  women 
and  children  assembled  to  see  the  fun.  Every  sort  of 
craft  was  prepared  for  action,  and  they  lined  the  whole 
margin  of  the  river  and  harbor  on  each  side  in 
thick  array.  As  the  'witching  hour'  drew  near,  the 
men  took  their  seats  with  much  hilarity  and  nerved 
their  arms  for  a  few  moments'  vigorous  work.  No  eye 
could  see  the  face  of  the  great  church  clock  on  the 
hill,  but  lanterns  glimmered  upon  a  hundred  watch- 
dials  and  then  were  set  down,  as  only  a  coveted 
minute  remained.  There  was  a  hush  in  the  merriment 
along  the  shore,  an  instant's  calm,  and  then  the  great 
bell  struck  a  deep-toned  peal.  It  was  like  an  electric 
shock.  Backs  bent  to  oars  and  paddles  churned  the 
water.  From  opposite  banks.,  waves  of  boats  leaped 
out  and  advanced  towards  one  another  in  the  dark- 
ness, as  though  bent  on  mutual  annihilation.  '  The 
race  was  to  the  swift '  and  every  stroke  was  the  mighti- 
est. Before  the  twelve  blows  upon  the  loud  bell  had 
ceased  their  reverberations,  the  oyster-beds  had  been 
reached,  tongs  were  scraping  the  long-rested  bottom, 
and  the  season's  campaign  upon  the  Quinepiac  had 
begun.  In  a  few  hours  the  crowd  upon  some  beds 
would  be  such  that  the  boats  were  pressing  close  to- 
gether. They  were  all  compelled  to  move  along  as 
one,  for  none  could  resist  the  pressure  of  the  multitude. 
The  more  thickly  covered  beds  were  quickly  cleaned 
of  their  bivalves.  The  boats  were  full,  the  wagons 
were  full,  and  many  had  secured  what  they  called 
their  '  winter's  stock  '  before  the  day  was  done,  and 


THE   OYSTER.  185 

thousands  of  bushels  of  oysters  were  packed  away 
under  blankets  of  sea-weed,  in  scores  of  cellars.  The 
first  day  was  the  great  day.  By  the  next  day  the  rustic 
crowd  had  departed,  but  the  oysters  continued  to  be 
sought.  A  week  of  this  sort  of  attack,  however,  usu- 
ally sufficed  to  clean  the  bottom  so  thoroughly  that 
subsequent  raking  was  of  small  account." 

For  a  few  years  the  bed  was  able  to  resist  this 
attack  and  recover  from  it,  but  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore all  the  mature  and  full-grown  oysters  were,  caught, 
and  at  the  present  time  the  bed  does  not  yield  market- 
able oysters,  although  it  still  provides  seed  oysters  for 
planting. 

It  is  clear  from  the  history  of  this  bed,  and  of  many 
others  which  might  be  referred  to,  that  as  oysters 
grow  scarce  and  the  demand  for  them  increases,  the 
only  effect  of  a  closed  season  is  to  assemble  all  the 
oystermen  upon  the  bed  at  the  end  of  the  season.  The 
oysters  which  would  otherwise  have  been  removed 
slowly  are  then  taken  away  rapidly,  and  the  plan  has 
no  advantages  as  a  means  of  protection  unless  the 
closed  season  is  long  enough  to  allow  a  new  genera- 
tion of  young  oysters  to  grow  up  and  replenish  the 
beds. 

Although  the  closure  of  the  beds  for  a  part  of  each 
year  is  of  very  little  value  in  itself,  a  closed  season  is 
a  great  help  in  the  enforcement  of  other  means  of  pro- 
tection, and  many  of  the  States  which  own  oyster-beds 
have  passed  laws  to  prevent  the  taking  of  oysters  in 
certain  months. 

In  Massachusetts  any  resident  may  take  oysters  for 
family  use  between  September  1st  and  June  1st,  but  no 


186  THE   OYSTER. 

one  can  take  them  without  a  permit  between  June  1st 
and  September  1st,  although  the  local  authorities  have 
the  power  to  grant  permits  to  fish  for  oysters  at  any 
time. 

Some  of  the  public  beds  of  Rhode  Island  are  open  to 
residents  between  September  I5th  and  May  I5th,  while 
others  are  open  only  between  April  1st  and  June  I5th, 
but  no  one  can  take  more  than  twenty  bushels  in  one 
day. 

Connecticut  has  no  closed  season,  and  her  public  as 
well  as  private  beds  are  fished  at  all  times.  The  beds 
in  the  river  Thames,  however,  are  closed  by  a  local 
law  between  March  1st  and  September  1st. 

New  York  has  local  laws  for  the  closure  of  the  beds 
of  certain  regions  at  specified  times,  and  some  of  the 
towns  have  town  laws  to  the  same  effect;  thus  the  beds 
of  Great  South  Bay  are  closed  by  a  State  law  from 
March  1st  to  September  1st,  and  those  in  Harlem  river 
from  June  istto  August  30th,  while  the  town  of  Brook- 
ham  has  a  town  law  closing  the  beds,  which  furnish 
the  well-known  "  Blue  Point "  oysters,  from  June  I5th 
to  October  1st. 

In  certain  counties  of  New  Jersey  the  closed  season 
is  from  May  1st  to  September  1st ;  in  others  from  July 
1st  to  September  1st,  and  in  still  others  from  May  1st 
to  October  1st. 

The  public  beds  of  Delaware  are  closed  from  April 
3Oth  to  September  1st. 

In  Virginia  the  closed  season  is  from  May  1st  to 
September  1st,  but  any  resident  may  catch  two  bushels 
a  day  for  family  use,  and  any  owner  of  planted  oys- 
ters may  catch  them  at  any  time  and  in  any  quantity 
for  family  use. 


THE   OYSTER.  187 

In  Ireland  the  season  opens  on  September  first  in 
some  localities,  on  October  first  in  others,  and  on 
November  first  in  others,  and  it  closes  on  March  first, 
April  first  or  May  first.  It  is  unlawful  to  possess  any 
oysters  during  the  closed  term.  The  inspectors  of 
fisheries  can  call  a  meeting  of  interested  persons  to 
decide  upon  a  change  in  the  closed  season. 

In  the  English  Channel  the  closed  season,  as  estab- 
lished by  the  concurrent  legislation  of  England  and 
France,  is  June  sixteenth  to  August  thirty-first,  and 
any  boat  found  at  this  time  with  a  dredge  aboard  is 
held  guilty  of  a  violation  of  the  law. 

In  Maryland  in  1884  no  dredging  was  allowed  be- 
tween April  1st  and  October  I5th,  and  no  oysters  in  the 
shell  could  be  carried  outside  of  the  State  between 
April  1st  and  September  1st.  There  is  also  a  State 
law  in  the  following  words  :  "  It  shall  be  unlawful  for 
any  person  or  persons  to  take  or  catch  oysters,  except 
for  private  use,  to  the  amount  of  five  bushels  per  day, 
or  for  sale  of  the  same  to  any  citizen  or  citizens  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  to  them  only  for  the  purpose  of 
being  consumed  when  sold,  or  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
planting or  bedding  in  the  waters  of  the  counties 
wherein  they  are  caught,  pr  for  sale  to  the  citizens  of 
the  county  wherein  they  are  caught,  and  to  them  only 
for  the  purpose  of  replanting  or  bedding  in  the  waters 
of  said  counties,  between  the  I5th  day  of  April  and 
the  ist  day  of  September." 

A  special  act  of  the  Legislature  is  needed  to  ex- 
plain what  the  ambiguous  wording  of  this  section 
is  intended  to  prohibit  or  permit;  but  Sec.  13,  of 
the  Act  of  1874,  for  which  the  words  above  quoted 


1 88  THE   OYSTER. 

were  substituted  in  1880,  forbids  the  taking  of  oysters 
during  the  closed  season,  except  for  private  use,  or 
for  the  purpose  of  replanting,  or  for  sale  to  the  citizens 
of  the  county  next  adjoining.  It  is,  therefore,  prob- 
able that  the  framers  of  the  present  law  wished  to  per- 
mit by  it  the  taking  between  April  I5th  and  September 
1st  of  oysters  to  be  sold  to  residents  of  the  neighbor- 
hood for  food,  or  to  citizens  of  the  county  for  planting, 
and  also  to  permit  the  taking  of  five  bushels  a  day  for 
private  use. 

It  will  be  seen  by  examination  that  .almost  the  only 
thing  which  these  laws  have  in  common  is  the  prohi- 
bition of  oyster-fishing  in  the  summer  months,  and  to 
this  there  are  exceptions,  as  some  of  the  Rhode  Island 
beds  are  open  only  in  the  summer,  while  those  of  Con- 
necticut are  open  at  all  times.  This  provision,  which 
is  borrowed  from  the  laws  for  the  protection  of  game, 
is  based  upon  the  fact  that  this  time  is  the  spawning 
season.  Game  birds  soon  desert  a  region  where  they 
are  disturbed  in  the  breeding  season,  and  as  they  lay 
few  eggs  and  care  for  their  helpless  young,  the  de- 
struction of  an  old  bird  at  this  time  may  result  in  the 
death  of  the  whole  brood.  The  provision  of  the  game 
law  which  forbids  the  capture  of  game 'during  the 
breeding  season  is  therefore  a  wise  one,  but  oysters 
are  very  different  from  game  birds.  They  discharge 
vast  numbers  of  eggs  into  the  water,  but  they  take  no 
care  of  their  young,  and  while  it  is  true  that  the  re- 
moval of  too  many  mature  oysters  from  a  bed  destroys 
its  productiveness,  the  time  when  they  are  removed  is 
a  matter  of  no  .consequence,  and  overfishing  in  De- 
cember is  in  this  respect  as  bad  as  overfishing  in  May. 


THE   OYSTER.  189 

I  have  made  a  study  of  the  spawning  time  of  our 
oysters,  and  have  carried  my  observations  over  several 
years.  I  have  found  spawning  oysters  in  our  waters 
in  every  month  in  the  year  except  December,  January 
and  February,  and  I  have  had  no  opportunity  to  visit 
the  beds  during  these  three  months. 

By  far  the  greater  number  of  these  oysters,  how- 
ever, are  found  to  .spawn  between  May  2Oth  and  July 
1st,  and  although  the  temperature  of  our  spring  months 
causes  considerable  variation,  this  period  may  properly 
be  called  the  spawning  season.  At  any  time  before 
May  2Oth,  the  disturbance  of  the  beds  can  do  little 
harm,  and  the  experience  of  the  Connecticut  oyster- 
farmers  shows  that  the  thorough  raking  of  the  beds 
just  before  the  spawning  season  is  a  positive  benefit. 
The  young  oysters  cannot  attach  themselves  to  dirty 
and  slimy  shells,  and  if  all  the  sponges,  hydroids  and 
sea-weeds  could  ,be  dragged  from  our  beds  in  April 
and  May,  and  if  the  old  decayed  and  slimy  shells 
could  be  plowed  under  and  covered  with  the  cleaner 
shells  from  below  the  surface  by  dredging  just  before 
the  spawning  season,  the  fertility  of  the  beds  would  be 
greatly  increased,  and  there  is,  therefore,  nothing  in 
the  nature  of  the  oyster  to  demand  the  closure  of  the 
beds  in  April  and  May. 

I  believe  that  no  increase  in  the  value  of  our  beds 
can  be  hoped  for  until  it  is  brought  about  by  private 
cultivation,  and  that  the  State  should  use  every  possi- 
ble means  to  foster  and  encourage  the  oyster-planting 
and  oyster-farming  industries.  I  show  elsewhere  that 
the  States  where  the  oyster  industry  is  most  prosper- 
ous have  found  it  necessary  and  to  their  advantage  to 


THE    OYSTER. 

use  the  natural  beds  chiefly  as  a  supply  of  seed  for 
planting,  and  I  believe  that  whenever  the  people  of  our 
State  are  prepared  to  use  our  great  natural  advantages 
for  oyster  culture,  it  will  be  wise  to  throw  open  the 
natural  beds  in  the  summer  time,  but  at  present  such 
a  measure  would  simply  result  in  the  depletion  of  the 
beds,  without  any  compensating  advantage. 

Soon  after  the  young  oysters  are  born  they  fasten 
themselves  to  stones,  gravel,  empty  shells,  living  oys- 
ters and  other  clean,  hard  substances.  They  are  at 
first  so  small  and  flat  that  they  are  in  no  danger  of 
injury  by  dredgers,  and  there  is,  therefore,  no  reason 
why  the  taking  of  marketable  oysters  should  not  be 
continued  all  summer  if  the  large  oysters  could  be 
taken  away  without  the  young  ones,  but  these  are  at 
first  so  small  that  they  are  invisible,  and  for  several 
months  they  are  too  small  to  be  removed  from  the 
shells  of  larger  oysters.  As  it  is  very  difficult  to 
enforce  culling  laws,  the  opening  of  the  public  beds 
immediately  after  the  spawning  season  would  cause 
millions  of  the  small  oysters  to  be  carried  away  on  the 
shells,  and  even  if  the  culling  laws_  could  be  enforced, 
many  of  the  small  oysters  would  be  carried  away  on 
the  large  ones. 

This  would  be  a  great  advantage  if  the  small  oys- 
ters were  used  as  seed  for  planting,  but  at  present 
most  of  them  are  destroyed. 

I  therefore  believe  that,  for  the  present  at  least,  the 
public  beds  should  be  closed  for  as  long  a  time  as 
possible  in  the  fall,  in  order  to  give  the  young  oysters 
time  to  grow  large  enough  to  render  it  possible  to 
detach  them  from  the  larger  ones  and  from  the  shells. 


THE    OYSTER.  lg\ 

I  also  think  that  each  public  bed  should  be  examined 
annually  in  order  to  determine  how  many  oysters  it 
can  yield  without  injury.  This  examination  should  be 
made  in  August  or  September,  in  order  to  learn  how 
many  young  oysters  have  settled  upon  the  bed,  and  as 
the  analysis  and  publication  of  the  results  of  this  ex- 
amination would  require  at  least  two  months,  the  open- 
ing of  the  public  beds  should  be  postponed  as  long  as 
possible. 

After  the  closure  of  the  packing-houses  in  the  early 
spring,  most  of  the  oysters  which  are  taken  are  sold 
outside  the  State  at  a  very  low  price  to  planters,  who, 
in  many  cases  at  least,  resell  to  Maryland  packers  in 
September  and  October  at  a  great  advance. 

If  our  own  people  would  themselves  engage  exten- 
sively in  the  planting  business,  or  if  our  beds  were  not 
already  overtaxed,  it  would  be  wise  to  encourage  the 
taking  of  seed  to  be  sold  to  Northern  planters,  as  this 
is  one  of  the  legitimate  sources  of  the  demand  for 
our  oysters. 

As  soon  as  our  people  engage  extensively  in  oys- 
ter-planting, and  need  these  months  to  gather  their 
seed  oysters,  and  as  soon  as  our  beds  are  sufficiently 
prolific  to  supply  Northern  planters,  we  believe  that 
the  beds  should  be  thrown  open  until  June  ist,  or 
even  longer. 

The  experience  of  Connecticut,  where  both  public 
and  private  beds  are  open  throughout  the  whole  year, 
and  are  rapidly  increasing  in  value,  shows  that  a 
closed  season  is  not  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 
the  beds. 

As  the  closed  season  is  a  matter  of  policy,  and  is 


I Q2  THE   OYSTER. 

not  due  to  the  nature  of  the  oyster,  I  believe  that  it 
should  be  made  absolute,  and  that  all  laws  which  per- 
mit any  one  to  take  any  oysters  from  the  public  beds 
at  that  time  should  be  repealed. 

It  is  possible  to  stock  oyster-farms  and  planting- 
grounds  without  drawing  upon  the  public  beds,  and 
there  is  no  reason  why  those  oyster-planters  who  wish 
to  get  their  seed  from  the  public  beds  should  not  do  so 
after  the  oyster  season  is  opened.  It  is  true  that  they 
would  then  have  to  compete  with  the  prices  paid  by 
the  packers,  but  as  our  present  oyster  policy  is 
opposed  to  any  private  interest  in  the  beds,  there  is 
no  good  reason  why  a  planter  should  have  oysters 
from  the  public  beds  any  more  cheaply  than  any  one 
else. 

The  law  which  allows  any  person  to  catch  oysters 
from  the  public  beds  at  any  time  for  family  use  or 
for  sale  in  the  neighborhood,  is  a  wide  loophole  for 
infringement  of  the  law,  and  so  long  as  our  present 
oyster  policy  is  adhered  to,  I  believe  that  the  public 
beds  should  be  absolutely  closed  during  the  closed 
season; 

ON  THE  ADVISABILITY  OF  DIVIDING  OUR  OYSTER  AREA 
INTO  OPEN  AND  CLOSED  DISTRICTS. 

We  cannot  hope  for  any  marked  improvement  in 
the  condition  of  our  oyster-beds  through  the  enforce- 
ment of  laws  closing  them  for  certain  months  in  the 
year. 

The  rapidly  increasing  demand  for  oysters  must  be 
supplied  in  one  way  or  another,  and  the  effect  of  a 
closed  season  is  simply  to  gather  the  oystermen  upon 


THE    OYSTER.  1 93 

the  beds  in  greater  numbers  than  ever  at  the  end  of  the 
season. 

This  is  equally  true  whether  the  closed  season  is 
long  or  short.  If  our  waters,  or  any  part  of  them, 
should  be  closed  to  the  public  for  a  term  of  years,  the 
oysters  would  increase  and  multiply  and  finally  restock 
the  beds.  It  is  difficult  to  state  exactly  how  long  a 
time  would  be  required,  as  this  depends  upon  the  con- 
dition of  the  beds.  When  there  are  plenty  of  mature 
oysters  to  supply  the  spat,  and  plenty  of  clean  shells 
for  the  young  to  fasten  upon,  a  few  years  will  suffice 
to  restore  the  bed ;  but  after  an  oyster-bed  is  thoroughly 
exhausted  there  is  no  reason  why  another  natural  bed 
should  ever  grow  up  in  the  same  spot  rather  than  any- 
where else,  and  in  any  case  the  closure  of  certain 
districts  cannot  increase  the  supply  beyond  its  natural 
limits.  In  some  parts  of  France  the  oyster  territory 
has  been  divided  into  sections,  and  each  section  is 
fished  in  turn  while  the  others  are  closed  and  left  to 
repair  their  losses.  We  are  told  by  a  recent  French 
writer  that,  while  the  provinces  which  have  made  use 
of  this  system  have  been  able  to  preserve  their  beds 
from  complete  ruin,  they  have  not  been  able  to  increase 
their  fruitfulness  or  to  restore  them  to  their  ancient 
splendor. 

Even  if  the  waters  are  loaded  with  spat  from  ad- 
jacent beds,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  young  should 
gain  a  foothold  on  the  site  of  the  exterminated  bed. 
Between  the  natural  beds  there  are  areas  where  the 
bottom  is  perfectly  adapted  for  oysters,  except  that 
there  is  nothing  for  the  spat  to  fasten  to,  and  an  exter- 
minated natural  bed  is  in  the  same  condition. 


194  THE   OYSTER. 

The  regrowth  of  such  a  bed  is,  therefore,  exactly 
like  the  original  formation  of  a  natural  bed,  and  it 
must  be  a  very  slow  process  indeed  ;  how  slow  it  is 
very  difficult  to  say,  as  we  have  very  little  information 
which  will  help  us  to  decide,  although  we  have  facts  to 
show  that  a  century  may  not  be  long  enough. 

When  New  England  was  settled  there  were  very 
many  valuable  beds  between  Cape  Cod  and  the  north- 
ern limit  of  our  coast.  Many  of  these  beds  were 
destroyed  so  long  ago  that  we  have  no  records  of  the 
date  when  they  ceased  to  be  productive,  and  others 
were  yielding  oysters  about  one  hundred  years  ago. 
There  are  still  a  few  scattered  oysters  at  certain  points 
on  the  coast,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  the  conditions 
are  still  favorable,  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  show 
that  any  of  these  beds  have  become  restocked,  although 
some  of  them  have  certainly  been  untouched  for  two 
hundred  years  or  more.  It  is  possible  that  the  beds 
which  were  discovered  by  the  United  States  Coast 
Survey  in  1874,  near  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire, 
have  grown  there  since  the  oysters  were  exterminated,  a 
hundred  years  before.  This  region  was  renowned 
among  the  Indians  for  its  oysters,  and  in  1697,  a  river 
emptying  into  the  bay  was  known  as  Oyster  River.  One 
hundred  years  ago  a  number  of  vessels  were  loaded  with 
oysters  there,  but  since  that  time  the  region  has  yielded 
no  oysters  until  1874,  when  the  officers  of  the  United 
States  Coast  Survey  found  about  a  dozen  large  beds  or 
clusters  of  beds  in  about  ten  feet  of  water. 

It  is  impossible  to  state  whether  these  beds  occupy 
the  place  of  the  beds  which  were. exterminated  a  cen- 
tury ago,  but  it  is  probable  that  most  of  the  old  beds 


THE   OYSTER.  1 95 

were  in  shallow  water.  The  bay  must  have  contained 
enough  oysters  to  furnish  spat,  and  as  no  new  beds 
have  grown  up  in  shallow  water,  we  are  forced  to  con- 
clude that,  even  when  spawn  is  present,  a  period  of  a 
hundred  years  is  not  enough  to  restore  a  bed  which  has 
been  completely  destroyed. 

The  adoption  by  the  State,  of  a  plan  to  close  certain 
districts  long  enough  for  the  beds  to  recover,  would, 
undoubtedly,  delay  the  work  of  extermination,  but  it 
would  also  cause  an  immediate  decrease  in  the  supply. 

I  believe  that  if  our  present  policy  is  continued, 
measures  of  this  kind  must  be  adopted,  but  such  an 
expedient  can  have  only  a  temporary  value,  as  it  will 
do  nothing  in  itself  to  enlarge  our  oyster  area,  or  to 
increase  the  productiveness  of  our  waters. 

I  believe  that  the  districting  plan  is  neither  a  real 
remedy  nor  the  best  method  for  arresting  the  destruc- 
tion. It  is  the  best  which  can  be  put  into  force  without 
delay,  but  while  recommending  it,  I  feel  that  it  is  my 
duty  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a  still 
better  method,  although  it  is  one  which  would  require 
considerable  time  and  the  expenditure  of  large  sums 
of  money. 

Under  natural  conditions  each  bed  is  able  to  yield  a 
certain  number  of  oysters  each  year,  and  whenever 
this  number  is  exceeded  the  bed  suffers,  and  if  the 
practice  is  continued  it  must  be  destroyed.  It  makes 
no  difference  whether  the  oysters  are  taken  in  one 
month  or  in  twelve,  or  in  one  year  or  in  five.  The 
ultimate  effect  upon  the  bed  is  the  same  in  all  cases. 

In  the  absence  of  measures  for  artificially  increasing 
the  productiveness  of  the  oyster  grounds,  or  even  when 


196  THE   OYSTER. 

such  measures  are  employed,  the  only  way  to  effectu- 
ally protect  a  bed  is  to  examine  it  each  year,  and  to 
learn  how  many  oysters  it  can  furnish  without  injury, 
and  to  take  such  steps  as  may  be  necessary  for  pre- 
venting each  bed  from  being  drawn  upon  in  excess  of 
its  capacity. 

When  the  natural  beds  are  small  and  few  in  number 
it  is  easy  to  do  this,  and  the  plan  has  been  employed 
in  some  parts  of  our  own  country,  and  also  in  many 
parts  of  Europe,  where  a  few  guard-boats  are  enough 
to  protect  the  beds,  and  to  learn  how  many  oysters  are 
taken  from  each  one. 

The  waters  of  Maryland  cover  nearly  one-third  of 
the  whole  area  of  the  State,  and  as  oyster-beds  are 
found  in  nearly  all  our  waters,  there  are  very  great 
practical  difficulties ;  and  the  attempt  to  learn  how 
many  oysters  are  taken,  and  how  many  should  be  taken 
from  each  bed,  demands  great  executive  ability  and  a 
large  and  well-trained  and  equipped  force.  Our  pre- 
sent Fishery  Force  is  totally  incompetent  to  under- 
take such  a  work,  and  no  force  could  do  it  efficiently 
without  devoting  much  time  to  organization  and  to  pre- 
liminary work. 

The  restriction  of  the  crop  according  to  the  capacity 
of  the  bed  is  absolutely  necessary,  if  our  beds  are  to 
remain  public  property,  and  it  must  be  brought  about 
in  one  way  or  another. 

The  result  can  be  reached  by  a  system  of  intelligent 
private  cultivation  upon  grounds  held  for  the  purpose 
upon  long  leases,  or  deeded  outright  by  the  State;  for 
personal  interest  is  the  strongest  motive  which  can 
exist  to  prevent  the  needless  destruction  of  property. 


THE    OYSTER.  1 97 

If  all  our  oyster  area  were  divided  up  into  private 
holdings,  the  whole  could  be  watched  and  its  condition 
and  capacity  much  more  carefully  and  exactly  ascer- 
tained, than  can  ever  be  the  case  under  State  manage- 
ment, and  an  enlightened  system  of  private  cultivation 
would  be  the  most  sure  safeguard  against  the  exhaus- 
tion of  the  beds. 

The  first  step,  the  survey  of  all  the  beds  and  the 
construction  of  accurate  maps,  would  employ  a  large 
and  well  equipped  force  for  several  years.  After  all 
the  beds  are  mapped,  a  large  force  will  still  be  needed 
to  make  the  annual  examinations,  and  to  obtain  the 
data  which  are  needed  to  determine  how  many  oysters 
each  bed  can  yield  without  injury. 

The  enactment  and  enforcement  of  the  necessary 
laws  would  even  then  present  many  difficult  and  com- 
plicated problems,  but  if  our  public  beds  could  be 
placed  for  a  term  of  years  under  the  supervision  of  an 
officer  or  a  commission  to  study  the  subject,  and  to 
superintend  and  direct  the  survey  and  examination, 
and  to  develop  a  plan  for  protection ;  and  if  compe- 
tent persons  could  be  found  to  devote  themselves  to 
this  work;  and  if  an  efficient  navy,  under  the  com- 
mand of  trained  officers,  could  be  employed  to  act 
under  their  supervision  and  direction,  a  practical  and 
efficient  plan  could  no  doubt  be  devised  and  put  into 
execution.  Possibly  the  same  thing  could  be  accom- 
plished by  an  organized  co-operative  company  of 
oystermen. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A   TALK   ABOUT   OYSTERS. 

An  intelligent  and  successful  farmer,  visiting  an 
oyster-packer  in  Baltimore,  said  :  "  I  know  nothing  of 
oysters  except  what  I  have  heard,  but  I  wish  to  know 
more,  and  I  should  like  to  ask  you  a  few  questions. 
Since  I  have  been  here  I  have  seen  in  the  newspapers 
most  glowing  statements  regarding  the  advantages  of 
Maryland  for  producing  oysters,  yet  I  am  constantly 
being  told  that  all  branches  of  the  oyster  industry  are 
depressed  and  in  a  most  discouraging  condition.  The 
last  two  or  three  winters  have  been  very  mild  and,  I 
should  suppose,  very  favorable  for  work  upon  the 
beds ;  yet  I  hear  that  few  of  the  oystermen  earned 
enough  to  pay  expenses  last  year,  and  they  all  say 
that  this  winter  matters  have  been  very  much  worse. 
Your  friends  in  the  packing  business  tell  me  that  the 
oysters  are  deteriorating  in  quality,  and  that  they  are 
growing  so  scarce  that  some  of  the  packers  have 
moved  away  from  Baltimore.  You  say  that  people  in 
Australia  and  New  Zealand,  as  well  as  in  Europe  and 
in  all  parts  of  our  own  country,  who  formerly  ordered 
great  quantities  of  Maryland  oysters,  no  longer 
patronize  you.  I  hear  you  complain  that,  while  your 
business  is  falling  off,  you  have  more  and  more  diffi- 
culty each  year  in  filling  your  orders,  and  I  can  see 


'     THE    OYSTER.  1 99 

for  myself  that  your  oysters  are  not  as  fine  and  sub- 
stantial as  they  used  to  be.  You  tell  me  that  you  buy 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  oysters,  although  your 
own  beds  are  right  here  at  home.  Now  I  should  like 
to  know  whether  the  waters  of  Maryland  are  not  as 
fit  for  growing  oysters  as  those  of  other  States  ?  " 

"  Most  certainly  they  are,"  answered  the  packer. 
"  We  all  know  that  our  waters  are  capable  of  producing 
the  finest  oysters  in  the  world  in  immeasurable  abund- 
ance. Like  all  citizens  of  Maryland,  I  am  very  proud 
of  this  great  natural  resource,  and  I  regard  our  oyster 
grounds  as  by  far  the  most  valuable  land  in  our  State." 

"  What  is  the  trouble  ?  Is  the  demand  too  great 
to  be  supplied  from  your  own  waters  ?  " 

"  That  is  a  difficult  question  to  answer  in  a  word. 
For  some  time  past  the  demand  has  exceeded  the  sup- 
ply from  the  natural  beds,  which  formerly  gave  us  all 
the  oysters  we  needed ;  and  as  the  eating-houses  and 
the  private  consumers  in  the  city  take  all  the  best,  I  am 
forced  to  send  my  customers  oysters  too  young  to  be 
palatable  and  nutritious.  But  the  demand  from  all 
sources  has  never  reached  anything  like  the  amount 
which  our  oyster-beds  might  easily  be  made  to  yield." 

"  I  cannot  make  your  two  statements  agree.  The 
sale  and  consumption  of  immature  oysters  seem  to 
me  like  mowing  down  young  wheat  to  make  hay. 
Why  is  nothing  done  to  increase  the  supply  ?  I  am 
told  that  in  Delaware  and  New  Jersey,  in  Rhode 
Island  and  in  other  States  which  have  ho  great 
natural  advantages,  such  as  you  claim  for  Maryland, 
the  value  of  the  natural  supply  has  been  very  much 
increased  by  placing  the  young  '  seed '  oysters  on 


200  THE   OYSTER. 

bottoms  where  they  grow  and  improve  until  they  are 
ready  for  the  market.  In  my  experience  as  a  market- 
gardener  I  have  found  that  while  onions  a  year  old 
can  be  sold,  it  is  much  more  profitable  to  plant  them 
as  'seed'  a  second  year,  and  to  give  them  another 
season's  growth  before  sending  them  to  market  In- 
stead of  packing  and  selling  these  small  oysters,  why 
do  you  not  treat  them  as  I  treat  my  'seed'  onions? 
Are  there  no  lands  in  your  State  suitable  for  oyster- 
planting  ?  " 

"  You  need  only  to  look  at  a  map  of  Maryland  for 
an  answer  to  that  question.  We  have  nearly  three 
hundred  miles  of  coast-line,  all  of  it  broken  up  into 
creeks  and  inlets  and  sounds  and  bays.  All  these  are 
well  adapted  for  oyster-planting,  and  might  easily  be 
made  much  more  so.  Besides  this  we  have  thousands 
of  acres  of  low,  marshy  land,  of  no  value  at  present. 
At  a  slight  expense  this  might  be  converted  into  sys- 
tems of  artificial  oyster-ponds,  where  oysters  could  be 
stored  and  held  for  a  favorable  market,  and  where 
they  would  grow  and  increase  in  value,  like  your  seed 
onions." 

"  This  is  most  surprising.  How  is  it  that  these 
natural  advantages  are  not  seized  upon  and  developed? 
Do  not  your  people  know  the  importance  and  profit  of 
oyster-planting?  " 

"  Certainly  they  do.  Oyster-planting  has  been  car- 
ried on  in  a  small  way  for  many  years,  and  there  are 
many  men  in  our  State  who  understand  the  business 
thoroughly.  Besides,  we  have  a  most  remarkable 
illustration  of  its  value  only  a  few  miles  beyond  our 
border.  At  Hampton  Roads,  in  the  lower  part  of  the 


THE   OYSTER.  2OI 

bay,  the  planting  business  has  recently  been  pushed 
with  great  energy  and  enthusiasm.  It  is  conducted 
on  such  a  large  scale  that  a  big  steamboat  is  now 
loaded  with  very  fine  oysters  every  day,  from  grounds 
which  six  years  ago  did  not  supply  enough  to  meet  the 
local  demand." 

"  I  am  told  that  in  Connecticut  it  has  been  found 
possible  to  grow  oysters  from  the  eggs,  in  the  way 
that  I  grow  wheat  and  corn  ;  and  to  establish  new 
oyster-beds  in  deep  water  by  covering  the  bottom 
with  oyster  shells,  to  catch  the  floating  embryos.  Is 
there  no  place  in  the  bay  where  this  can  be  done  ?  " 

"  Most  assuredly  there  is.  No  place  in  the  world  is 
better  suited  for  oyster-farming.  We  have  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  acres  which  are  most  valuable  for  this 
purpose,  and  experiments  have  shown  that  there  is  no 
part  of  the  bay  where  new  beds  might  not  ultimately 
be  established  by  shelling  the  bottom,  or  by  the  use  of 
other  spat-collectors." 

"  Why  don't  you  do  it  ?  How  can  you  complain  of  the 
scarcity  of  oysters  when  you  have  such  an  opportunity 
for  oyster-farming?  Is  not  the  business  profitable?" 

"  You  may  judge  of  this  for  yourself  when  I  tell  you 
that,  in  good  places,  a  crop  of  five  or  six  thousand 
bushels  a  year  might  be  harvested  from  each  acre,  with 
very  little  labor  or  outlay.  No  other  branch  of  oyster 
culture  gives  as  much  profit  upon  the  investment  of 
capital  and  labor  as  deep-water  oyster-farming." 

"  Does  no  one  in  Maryland  understand  the  busi- 
ness ?  " 

"  Oh  yes !  Many  of  our  packers  do  business  in 
Connecticut,  and  they  have  seen  for  themselves  how 


2O2  THE  OYSTER. 

oyster-farming  is  carried  on.  They  sell  to  the  Con- 
necticut farmers  the  shells  which  they  scatter  over 
their  land  to  collect  the  spat,  and  there  are  many  citi- 
zens of  Maryland  who  know  all  about  the  business, 
and  even  some  who  have  attempted  to  put  the  Con- 
necticut methods  into  practice  in  our  own  waters." 

"  Were  these  attempts  unsuccessful  ?  Are  the  oys- 
ters exposed  here  to  dangers  which  do  not  exist  in 
Long  Island  Sound  ?  I  am  told  that  in  Connecticut 
oysters  in  shallow  water  are  often  killed  by  ice,  and 
that  the  deep-water  farms  are  open  and  exposed  to 
violent  storms  which,  in  the  winter,  often  drive  the 
loose  sand  and  mud  over  the  oysters  and  bury  and 
destroy  them.  I  hear,  too,  that  the  farmers  suffer  from 
the  ravages  of  starfish.  They  tell  me  that  these  ani- 
mals often  come  up  in  great  armies,  on  to  the  beds, 
from  outside,  and  that  they  destroy  whole  farms, 
leaving  behind  them  only  the  empty  shells.  Do  these 
accidents  and  enemies  threaten  the  farming  industry 
in  Maryland  ?  " 

"  Not  at  all,"  answered  the  packer.  "  We  are  so  for- 
tunate as  to  have  none  of  these  causes  of  failure. 
While  the  water  of  our  bay  is  perfectly  adapted  for 
oysters,  it  is  too  fresh  for  starfish.  They  are  some- 
times found  in  the  lower  part,  near  the  ocean,  but  they 
are  never  numerous  enough  to  do  much  damage.  Our 
climate  is  too  mild  for  the  ice  to  do  much  harm,  and  the 
bay  is  so  well  sheltered  and  landlocked  that  there  are 
few  places  where  oysters  are  exposed  to  much  danger 
from  storms.  Most  of  our  bottoms  are  so  well  protected 
that  the  hardest  winds  cause  very  little  movement." 

"  You  say  oyster-farming  has  been  tried  in  Mary- 
land. Was  it  successful  ?  " 


THE  OYSTER.  203 

"That  depends  upon  what  you  mean  by  success. 
I  can  tell  you  of  one  farmer  who,  on  about  seventy 
acres  of  bottom  in  Virginia,  close  to  the  Maryland 
line,  raised  a  crop  of  more  than  three  hundred  thous- 
and bushels  of  fine  oysters." 

"  He  must  be  making  a  great  fortune.  How  does  it 
happen  that  his  example  is  not  followed  ?  " 

"  He  reared  his  oysters,  but  he  did  not  harvest  them. 
They  were  taken  by  the  dredgers." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  they  were  stolen  ?" 

"  Oh,  no.  That  is  not  the  word  to  use.  While  he 
was  getting  ready  to  gather  his  crop,  the  dredgers,  who 
had  paid  our  State  for  licenses  to  take  oysters,  got 
ahead  of  him  and  captured  them." 

"  Were  the  robbers  discovered  and  punished  ?  " 

"  They  were  not  robbers,  and  they  were  not  pun- 
ished. The  owner  of  the  oysters,  who  knew  many  of 
them  personally,  remonstrated  with  them,  but  he  could 
not  persuade  them  to  go  away." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  I  do  not  understand  the 
state  of  affairs  which  you  describe." 

"  Why,  you  see,  our  people  have  always  regarded 
the  oyster-beds  as  the  property  of  the  whole  State. 
They  are  natural  wealth  which  has  not  been  produced 
by  man,  and  no  one  person  has  any  more  right  to 
them  than  another.  They  belong  to  all  the  citizens  of 
the  State  in  common.  We  all  inherit  a  share  in  them 
as  part  of  our  birthright  as  Marylanders.  Our  people 
are  therefore  opposed  to  any  system  which  would  lead 
to  monopoly  and  would  give  to  a  few  the  exclusive 
enjoyment  of  the  natural  advantages  which  belong  to 
all." 


204  THE  OYSTER. 

"  That  seems  wise  and  just,  but  most  of  your  citi- 
zens have  other  occupations  and  do  not  wish  to  engage 
in  oystering.  How  do  they  dispose  of  their  common 
rights  ?  " 

"  We  have  a  system  of  licensing,  and  any  citizen  who 
wishes  to  gather  oysters  on  our  common  property 
pays  to  the  State  tfeasury  a  fee  for  the  privilege  of 
doing  so,  and  in  this  way  all  the  people  of  the  State 
get  the  benefit  of  our  natural  wealth." 

"  I  see.  All  your  people  are  enriched  by  the  sums 
paid  by  a  few  dredgers  for  the  monopoly  of  the  com- 
mon rights  of  the  citizens,  for  this  must  be  very  great, 
to  judge  by  all  you  say  of  the  value  of  your  waters." 

"  No  ;  that  is  hardly  true,  I  am  sorry  to  say.  The 
profits  are  not  so  great  as  you  suppose.  In  fact  there 
are  no  profits  at  all.  The  dredgers  themselves  are  not 
prosperous,  and  they  do  not  like  to  pay  this  tax  out 
of  their  hard  earnings  for  the  use  of  what  they  regard 
as  their  own.  Many  of  them  would  evade  it  if  they 
could,  so  the  State  is  forced  to  maintain  a  navy  to  pre- 
vent unlicensed  dredging,  and  this  costs  more  than  the 
total  sum  received  for  licenses." 

"  How  is  this  deficiency  made  up — by  the  taxpayers 
of  the  State?" 

"  Yes." 

"  I  see.  But  does  it  not  seem  to  you  that  this  means 
that  the  people  of  Maryland  pay  taxes  for  the  privi- 
lege of  giving  up  their  natural  rights  for  the  benefit  of 
a  monopoly?" 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  it  does  ;  but  then  we  have  the  satis- 
faction of  knowing  that  we  have  benefited  a  large 
class  of  our  people,  and  have  afforded  employment  for 
many  worthy  citizens  of  our  State." 


THE  OYSTER.  205 

"  That  is  true ;  but  I  learn  from  the  papers  that 
foreign  emigrants  are  met  by  the  agents  of  the  dredg- 
ing captains,  when  they  land  at  the  wharves  in  New 
York,  and  that  they  are  then  engaged  for  service  on 
the  Maryland  oyster-boats.  How  can  this  happen  if 
the  right  to  dredge  upon  the  public  beds  is  so  highly 
prized  by  your  people  ?  " 

"A  dredger's  life  is  very  hard.  The  boats  are 
small,  and  when  they  are  loaded  with  wet,  cold,  muddy 
oysters  there  is  not  much  room  left  for  the  crew.  The 
work  is  done  in  the  most  stormy  months  of  the  year. 
The  dredgers  are  exposed  to  all  the  hardships  and 
dangers  of  a  sailor's  life,  and  to  some  which  are  pecu- 
liar to  oystermen.  The  heavy  dredges  are  hauled  by 
hand  while  the  boat  is  under  way.  If  they  become 
foul  while  they  are  being  hauled  in,  all  the  weight 
of  the  boat  is  thrown  on  to  the  windlass,  and  the 
laborers,  benumbed  by  the  icy  water  and  unable  to 
move  quickly,  are  often  struck  by  the  crank.  Fatal 
accidents  from  this  cause  are  not  uncommon.  Of  late 
years  the  business  has  not  been  profitable.  The  boats 
do  not  pay  expenses,  and  the  owners  cannot  offer 
tempting  wages.  Maryland  men,  who  know  all  the 
hardships  of  a  dredger's  life,  are  not  anxious  to  ship 
as  hands  on  a  dredging  boat,  so  the  captains  are 
forced  to  recruit  their  crews  among  men  who  are  not 
so  well  posted." 

"Can  nothing  be  done  to  improve  the  dredger's 
life  ?  Why  do  they  not  dredge  in  the  summer  and 
keep  the  oysters  in  planting  grounds  until  there  is  a 
market  for  them  ?  " 

"  The  law  does  not  permit  dredging  in  the  summer." 


206  THE   OYSTER. 

"  Why  do  they  not  use  larger  vessels,  and  haul  the 
dredge  by  steam  ?  " 

"  As  the  amount  of  the  license  fee  depends  on  the 
size  of  the  boat,  it  is  for  the  owner's  interest  to  use  a 
small  vessel  and  pack  it  as  full  of  oysters  as  possible. 
The  use  of  steamboats  is  not  allowed,  and  the  law  re- 
quires that  the  dredge  shall  be  hauled  by  hand." 

"  How  does  it  happen  that  with  all  your  natural 
advantages  the  work  is  so  unprofitable  ?  " 

"  Our  people  have  always  been  taught  that  our 
natural  beds  are  inexhaustible,  so  nothing  has  ever 
been  done  to  determine  just  how  many  oysters  they 
could  furnish  each  year  without  injury,  and  the  result 
is  that  they  have  been  overworked  until  they  are  so 
nearly  exhausted  that  they  no  longer  furnish  a  living 
for  the  oystermen." 

"  I  think,"  said  the  farmer,  "  that  I  begin  to  under- 
stand the  situation.  It  seems  something  like  this. 
As  the  beds  belong  to  the  community,  private  oyster 
culture  has  not  been  permitted,  since  it  would  be  a 
monopoly.  Yet  the  common  property  of  the  citizens 
of  the  State  has  been  given  up  to  one  class  of  citizens 
in  order  that  they  might  have  profitable  employment. 
They  have  not  managed  their  trust  wisely,  and  have 
brought  it  so  near  the  verge  of  ruin  that  it  is  no  longer 
attractive  to  Marylanders,  and  they  have  called  in  the 
cheaper  labor  of  foreigners.  To  give  these  foreign 
laborers  employment  the  people  of  the  State  have  not 
only  given  up  their  rights,  but  have  also  paid  taxes  for 
the  support  of  the  navy.  This  state  of  things  cannot 
last.  What  do  you  propose  to  do  about  it  ?  " 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    REMEDY. 

Looked  at  as  a  question  in  natural  history,  the  oys- 
ter problem  is  very  simple.  The  demand  has  outgrown 
the  natural  supply,  but  it  is  easy  to  increase  the  supply 
indefinitely  by  oyster  culture,  and  this  is  all  that  is 
needed. 

As  a  practical  question  it  is  anything  but  simple. 
It  demands  the  best  thoughts  of  all  who  are  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  our  people.  The  practical  applica- 
tion of  the  remedy  is  proper  work  for  statesmen  of  the 
greatest  ability  and  widest  experience,  rather  than  for  a 
naturalist  who  knows  little  or  nothing  of  complicated 
social  questions. 

The  interests  at  stake  are  so  important  and  vast  that 
they  are  worthy  the  best  efforts  of  the  best  intellects 
in  our  community,  and  any  statesman  who  wishes  to 
devote  himself  to  the  unselfish,  disinterested  service  of 
the  people  will  find  in  the  complications  of  the  oys- 
ter problem  an  ample  field  for  the  exercise  of  all  his 
powers.  i 

So  many  divergent  and  conflicting  interests  are 
involved,  and  so  many  side  issues  are  to  be  con- 
sidered, that  hasty,  ill-advised  action  is  sure  to  do 
more  harm  than  good  ;  yet  we  have  permitted  matters 
to  run  on  so  long  without  attention,  that  little  time  now 
remains  for  deliberation  or  experiment. 


208  THE  OYSTER. 

It  is  with  reluctance  that  I  venture  to  speak  at  all  on 
the  practical  question  of  the  reconstruction  of  our  oys- 
ter policy.  I  feel  that  I  have  done  my  part  by  show- 
ing the  capacity  of  the  oyster  for  cultivation ;  by 
calling  attention  to  the  unexampled  opportunities  for 
oyster-culture  afforded  by  our  waters,  and  by  de- 
scribing the  methods  which  should  be  used  to  improve 
these  opportunities  and  to  develop  our  resources.  So 
far  I  have  dealt  with  facts,  not  opinions;  and  as  facts 
have  permanent  value,  I  hope  that  what  I  have  written 
will  help  to  establish  a  clearer  understanding  of  the 
needs  of  our  oyster  industry,  and  that  it  will  thus  lead 
in  time  to  the  adoption  of  wise  measures  for  its  pro- 
tection, and  for  promoting  its  growth  and  development. 

Here  I  feel  that  my  work  should  end,  and  that  the 
practical  details  should  be  left  to  those  who  have  had 
experience  in  public  affairs ;  and  if  I  venture  to  discuss 
details,  I  do  so  with  the  full  knowledge  that  I  am  out- 
side my  proper  province ;  thaj:  I  am  no  longer  dealing 
with  facts,  but  with  opinions  which  must  meet  with 
criticism  and  discussion.  The  reflections  of  any  one 
who  has  thought  seriously  upon  the  oyster  problem 
are  worthy  of  attention,  for  the  true  solution  can  only 
be  reached  through  the  examination  of  all  sides  of  the 
question,  and  I  have  therefore  decided  to  devote  the 
concluding  chapter  of  this  book  to  the  expression  of 
my  own  opinion  of  the  way  in  which  a  new  oyster 
policy  should  be  introduced. 

Every  one  agrees  that  whatever  may  be  the  remedy, 
our  method  of  managing  the  oyster  industry  so  far  has 
been  a  failure.  It  has  had  a  thorough  trial,  extending 
through  many  years,  and  here  are  some  of  the  results: 


THE  OYSTER.  2OQ 

It  has  yielded  on  the  average  some  ten  million  bushels 
of  oysters  annually  from  grounds  which  are  capable 
of  yielding  five  hundred  million  bushels  each  year. 
It  has  led  to  the  ruin  of  some  of  our  finest  beds,  and 
to  the  very  great  injury  of  all  of  them,  while  other 
States  have  greatly  increased  the  value  of  their  beds 
at  the  same  time  that  they  have  enlarged  and  extended 
the  fisheries  instead  of  restricting  them. 

It  has  given  a  precarious  employment  for  a  few 
months  in  each  year  to  about  fifty  thousand  oyster- 
men,  while  our  grounds  should  give  profitable  employ- 
ment, the  year  round,  to  five  hundred  thousand. 

It  has  paid  to  the  oysternfen  about  two  million 
dollars  a  year,  although  our  grounds  should  pay  their 
cultivators  more  than  sixty  million  dollars  a  year. 
Our  six  hundred  thousand  acres  of  oyster-ground 
have  paid  to  the  State  treasury  about  $50,000  a  year, 
which  it  has  cost  the  State  about  $52,000  to  collect; 
and  it  has  paid  about  $10,000  a  year  to  the  School 
Fund,  while  our  revenue  would  be  more  than  $6,000,- 
ooo  if  it  were  no  greater  per  acre  than  the  revenue  from 
the  oyster-grounds  of  Rhode  Island. 

In  other  States,  money  invested  in  the  oyster  busi- 
ness has  paid  an  annual  interest  of  more  than  200  per 
cent,  while  our  oysters  have  never  paid  to  either  pack- 
ers or  vessel-owners  more  than  100  per  cent,  and  of 
late  years  they  have  paid  nothing  at  all. 

The  interests  of  our  people  demand  a  complete 
change  in  our  oyster  policy,  as  rapid  and  radical  as  it 
can  be  without  inflicting  avoidable  injury  or  unneces- 
sary hardship  upon  any  one  who  is  now  engaged  in 
the  business ;  for  however  advantageous  to  the  public 


210  THE   OYSTER. 

in  general  a  change  may  be,  the  hardship  of  a  few 
should  overbalance  benefit  to  many,  and  we  should 
hesitate  to  demand  any  great  sweeping  change  if  it  is 
possible  to  devise  any  plan  to  open  the  way  for  im- 
proved methods  without  infringing  the  rights  of  those 
who  are  now  engaged  in  the  business.  If  proper 
measures  had  been  taken  years  ago  it  might  have 
been  possible  to  have  preserved  our  natural  beds  from 
complete  destruction,  without  restricting  the  fishing, 
while  a  new  system  was  being  gradually  introduced. 

We  have  delayed  action  too  long,  however,  and  the 
oyster  business  has  been  overtaken  by  disaster.  There 
is  no  escape,  under  dfty  system,  from  a  few  years  of 
scarcity  and  depression,  and  all  persons  who  are  en- 
gaged in  any  branch  of  the  business  must  suffer  more 
or  less.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  people  of  the  State  to 
see  to  it  that  our  resources  are  developed  and  made  as 
profitable  and  productive  as  possible,  but  while  it  is 
quite  true  that  our  beds  might  easily  be  made  to  sup- 
port many  more  persons  than  have  ever  gained  a 
living  from  them  in  the  past,  we  are  bound  to  see  to  it 
that  the  welfare  of  those  persons  who  are  now  depen- 
dent upon  them  be  not  unnecessarily  obstructed  while 
we  are  preparing  the  way  for  a  better  system. 

The  question  of  State  revenue  from  the  public  beds 
is  of  general  interest,  but  we  must  not  attach  undue 
importance  to  it.  For  several  years  past  it  has 
amounted  to  nothing,  and  under  our  present  system 
it  will  never  be  worth  considering.  As  this  is  the 
case,  the  question  of  revenue  for  the  next  few  years 
should  not  enter  into  the  discussion  of  our  policy 
regarding  the  public  beds.  If  any  plan  for  restoring 


THE  OYSTER.  211 

and  protecting  them  without  expense  to  the  people  of 
the  State  can  be  put  into  practice,  that  is  all  we  should 
expect. 

We  often  hear  that,  as  their  value  in  the  past  has 
not  been  the  result  of  human  industry,  the  oyster- 
bottoms  are  a  natural  source  of  wealth  which 
belongs  to  the  people  of  the  whole  State.  This  is 
unquestionably  true,  but  it  may  be  well  to  inquire 
more  minutely  into  the  exact  nature  and  significance 
of  this  ownership,  for  common  rights  bring  with  them 
common  duties  and  obligations. 

Our  first  duty  is  to  protect  those  citizens  who  are 
most  immediately  and  directly 'dependent  on  the  oys- 
ter, and,  among  them,  those  who  fish  the  public  beds 
to  get  oysters  to  serve  as  food  for  themselves  and  their 
families  have  the  first  claim. 

Of  the  10,500,000  bushels  of  oysters  which  were 
gathered  in  1880  in  our  waters,  8,670,000,  or  more  than 
four-fifths  of  the  whole,  were  consumed  outside  the 
State,  and  those  who  hold  that  the  people  of  our  tide- 
water counties,  or  the  people  of  Maryland,  have  a 
natural  right  to  this  supply  of  food,  may  truthfully 
affirm  that  if  the  sale  of  four-fifths  of  our  oysters  to 
people  outside  our  State  were  prohibited,  there  would, 
even  now,  be  an  abundance  for  our  own  people  on  our 
natural  beds.  Under,  any  intelligent  system  of  manage- 
ment our  natural  beds  would  supply  all  the  oysters  we 
need  for  food,  and  would  still  leave  a  great  surplus  for 
commercial  purposes,  and  we  do  not  need  to  kill  the 
oyster  business  in  order  to  get  our  own  supply. 

It  must  therefore  be  clear  to  every  one  that  our 
natural  right  to  oysters  for  food  does  not  justify  us  in 


212  THE    OYSTER. 

destroying  a  business  which  gives  profitable  employ- 
ment to  a  large  class  of  citizens.  All  civilized  com- 
munities recognize  the  advantage  of  selling  their  pro- 
ducts in  the  best  market,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to 
state  that  the  destruction  of  our  commercial  business 
in  oysters  would  inflict  great  injury,  not  on  a  few 
capitalists  alone,  but  on  thousands  of  fishermen, 
shuckers  and  canmakers,  and  our  people  certainly 
have  as  much  natural  right  to  make  an  honest  living 
by  selling  oysters  to  outsiders  as  they  have  to  use 
them  as  food  for  themselves  and  their  families. 

If  our  right  to  oysters  for  our  own  food  were  the 
only  one,  the  emergency  could  be  met  by  legislation 
to  prohibit  dredging  and  wholesale  fishing,  and  to 
drive  the  oyster  business  out  of  our  State ;  but  we  can 
hardly  conceive  a  greater  misfortune  to  our  people 
than  this.  -Still,  if  it  were  the  only  way  to  protect  our 
oysters,  and  to  preserve  for  the  people  of  our  tide- 
water counties  and  for  their  children  the  supply  of 
cheap  food  which  nature  has  given  them,  I  should  be 
among  the  first  to  recommend  this  course. 

Fortunately  this  is  not  the  only  remedy,  and  it  is 
possible  to  increase  our  supply  so  that  the  tide  water 
people  shall  have  all  they  want  without  destroying 
the  oyster  business. 

Our  next  duty  is  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  citi- 
zens who  support  themselves  by  work  upon  the  public 
beds — the  tongmen  and  dredgers  who  fish  for  oysters 
in  order  to  make  their  living  by  supplying  the  market. 
As  their  business  is  an  honest  and  useful  one,  they 
have  a  natural  right  to  pursue  it,  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
our  people  to  see  that  this  right  is  preserved  and  pro- 


THE  OYSTER.  21$ 

tected.  It  is  equally  clear,  however,  that  they  can 
claim  no  right  to  deprive  the  tide-water  people  of  food 
by  plundering  private  supplies  of  oysters,  or  by  de- 
stroying the  natural  beds.  Every  one  knows  that 
private  planting  grounds  have  been  robbed  without 
mercy  by  some  of  our  fishermen,  and  even  the  men 
who  are  most  prejudiced  by  their  own  interests  are  no 
longer  able  to  deny  the  well-known  fact  that  our  public 
beds  have  been  brought  to  the  verge  of  ruin  by  the 
men  who  fish  them  to  supply  the  market. 

If  fishing  cannot  be  carried  on  upon  the  natural  beds 
without  this  result,  the  interest  of  our  whole  people 
demands  its  prohibition.  The  citizens  of  Maryland 
do  not  desire  to  deprive  any  one  of  the  right  to  earn 
his  living,  but  our  own  interest  requires  that  oystering 
upon  the  public  beds  shall  be  prohibited  unless  the 
oystermen  can  convince  us  that  they  can  be  intrusted 
with  this  right,  without  placing  our  common  property 
or  the  property  of  any  citizen  in  peril.  The  question 
which  we  should  ask  them,  which  they  are  bound  in  j  us- 
tice  to  ask  themselves,  is  whether  they  are  able  to  give 
this  assurance  to  the  people  of  the  State.  They  can- 
not satisfy  the  community  by  calling  for  more  laws  to 
keep  them  within  bounds,  or  by  asking  for  an  armed 
police  force  to  prevent  them  from  destroying  their  own 
interests. 

They  must  satisfy  the  people  that  they  themselves 
have  enough  public  spirit  to  organize  themselves  for 
their  own  government  and  regulation,  and  that  they 
have  enough  self-restraint  and  forethought  and  intelli- 
gent self-interest  to  provide  for  the  protection  and  im- 
provement of  the  property  which  is  intrusted  to  them. 


214  THE   OYSTER. 

If  they  can  give  the  community  this  assurance,  all  the 
people  of  the  State  will  be  on  their  side  and  will  aid 
them  by  all  means  in  their  power.  The  question  of 
immediate  revenue  to  the  State  will  not  be  considered 
for  a  moment,  as  compared  with  their  prosperity. 

The  tongmen  and  dredgers  must  acknowledge,  how- 
ever, that  as  the  home  consumer  of  oysters  has  no 
right  to  oppose  the  commercial  business,  it  is  equally 
clear  that  the  public  fishermen  have  no  right  to  oppose 
the  development  of  our  resources  by  private  oyster 
culture,  unless  it  destroys  their  own  livelihood. 

So  long  as  they  draw  on  the  natural  supply  without 
the  devotion  of  any  part  of  their  labor  or  earnings  to 
its  increase  by  artificial  means,  they  can  claim  no  right 
to  anything  more  than  the  natural  beds;  nor  can  they 
claim  any  right  to  gain  a  living  from  these  beds  at  the 
expense  of  posterity,  or  by  any  means  which  tend  to 
ruin  the  property.  It  is  also  clear  that  they  have  no 
rights  which  conflict  with  the  wider  right  of  our  people 
to  increase  our  prosperity  by  rearing  oysters. 

In  discussing  the  measures  which  should  be  adopted 
for  the  restoration  and  development  of  our  oyster 
business,  the  interests  of  four  classes  should  be  kept 
in  view:  the  tongmen  who  resort  to  the  beds  for  food; 
the  dredgers  and  tongmen  who  make  a  living  by 
gathering  oysters  for  sale  from  our  natural  beds ;  the 
persons  who  wish  to  engage  in  oyster  culture,  either 
by  planting  or  by  the  various  methods  of  oyster-farm- 
ing ;  and  the  dealers,  packers,  shuckers,  canmakers 
and  others  who  are  supported  by  the  oyster  business. 

Fortunately  we  need  not  ask  which  of  these  inter- 
ests is  to  give  way.  Our  waters  are  prolific  enough 


THE  OYSTER.  21$ 

for  all,  and  it  is  the  right  as  well  as  the  duty  of  our 
people  to  see  to  it  that  our  natural  inheritance  in  the 
bay  be  fully  developed  and  used  to  the  best  advantage 
for  the  good  of  all. 

The  protection  of  the  people  who  now  depend  upon 
the  natural  beds  for  a  living  must  always  be  kept  in 
view,  but  our  people  should  awaken  to  a  sense  that 
interest  in  the  matter  is  not  confined  to  the  men  who 
are  engaged  in  the  oyster  business. 

To  ourselves  and  to  our  posterity  we  owe  it  that 
our  resources  shall  be  fully  developed,  for  our  oyster- 
beds  are  our  greatest  source  of  wealth,  and  upon  them, 
more  than  upon  our  commerce,  our  manufactures,  or 
our  farming  land,  the  future  wealth  and  prosperity 
and  population  of  our  State  depend. 

Every  one  of  us  appreciates  that  it  is  for  his  interest 
to  get  his  little  private  supply  of  oysters  for  home  use 
as  cheaply  as  possible,  but  scarcely  any  one,  except 
the  oysterman,  realizes  that  this  is  the  least  of  his  in- 
terests in  the  matter.  If  our  population  were  increased 
fifty-fold,  the  oysters  needed  for  home  consumption 
would  even  then  be  only  a  small  part  of  the  supply 
which  our  waters  can  be  made  to  furnish ;  and  every 
one  who  is  interested  in  Maryland,  all  business  men 
who  will  be  benefited  by  an  increase  in  wealth  and 
population,  all  farmers  who  pay  taxes  to  the  State,  and 
all  persons  who  own  property  here,  should  awaken  to 
the  fact  that  our  greatest  source  of  wealth  is  almost 
absolutely  undeveloped. 

The  wealth  which  is  within  the  reach  of  our  people 
and  their  descendants  from  the  oyster-grounds  of  the 
State  is  great,  almost  beyond  expression,  and  it  is  not 


2l6  THE   OYSTER. 

too  much  to  affirm  that  the  money  value  of  the  grounds 
under  the  water  is  equal  to  that  of  the  dry  land. 

I  have  attempted  to  form  a  rough  approximation  to 
the  area  which  is  at  present  occupied  by  oysters  in 
Maryland,  and  while,  in  the  absence  of  exact  surveys, 
the  result  cannot  be  regarded  as  strictly  accurate,  the 
conclusions  which  are  given  in  the  following  table  are 
certainly  not  excessive. 

TABLE  No.  4. — AREAS  OF  OYSTER-BEDS  APPROXIMATELY 
ASCERTAINED.     1883. 

Square  Yards. 

Fishing  Bay  Beds 25,600,000 

WerePoint 1,800,000 


Shark  Fin  Point 


Nanticoke  Point 

Clump  Point 

Horsey's  Bar  Beds 


1,850,000 


3,400,000 

400,000 

200,000 

Tyler  Beds 700,000 

Drumming  Shoal 2,400,000 

Cow  and  Calf 300,000 

Bloodsw~orth  Island  (East  Bed) 4,000,000 

Cedar  Beds 400.000 

Mud  Beds l,WK),(iOO 

Turtle  Egg  Island 1,650,000 

Chain  Shoal 1.200,000 

Muscle  Hole  Bed 3;00^,OCO 

Piney  Island  Bar 7,000,000 

Manokin  River  Bed 6,200,(iOO 

Big  Annemessex 3,000,000 

Harris' Beds 3,400,000 

Terrapin  Sand  Beds .' 1,400,000 

Paul's  Bed 800,000 

Woman's  Marsh 7,COO,000 

Bed  of  Janes' Island 1,800,000 

Great  Rock 8,500.000 

St.  Mary's  County  Bay  Shore , 48.787,200 

Calvert  County  Bay  Shore 57,076,800 

James  River  to  Islands  to  Boundaryjjne 42,210,000 

Anne  Arundel  County  Bay  Shore 88,281,600 

Kent  County  Bay  Shore 21,608,400 

Talbot  County  Bay  Shore 50,372,800 

Queen  Anne's  County  Bay  Shore 48,787,200 

Susquehanna  River  Oyster-Beds 14,700,000 

Sassafras  River  Oyster-Beds 3,300,000 

Back  River  Oyster-Beds 2,200,000 

Back  River  Oyster-Beds 1,200,000 

Gunpowder  River  Oyster-Beds 3,800,003 

Bush  River  Oyster-Beds 1,300,000 

Hawk  Cove  Oyster-Beds 960,000 

Patapsco  River  Oyster-Beds  (Old  Road  River  to  Sellers'  Point) 3,800,000 

Chester  River  and  Creeks  Oyster-Beds 21,401.000 

Bodkin  Creek  Ovster-Beds 5,000,000 

Magothy  River  Oyster-Beds 8,900.000 

Severn  River  Oyster-Beds 3,500,000 

South  River  Oyster-Beds 6,000.000 


Eastern  Bay  and  Creeks  Oyster-Beds 

Choptank  River  to  Cambridge  Oyster-Beds. 

Little  Choptank  River  Oyster-Beds 

Patuxent  River  to  Benedict  Oyster-Beds. . . , 


19,400,000 
13,300,000 
7,100,000 
17,300,000 


Total , , 578,224,000 


THE  OYSTER.  21? 

Five  hundred  and  seventy-eight  million  square  yards 
are  about  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  square  miles, 
or  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres. 

As  Winslow  found  by  actual  survey  that  there  are 
103  square  miles  of  natural  oyster-beds  in  Tangier 
Sound  alone  in  1879, tms  estimate  of  193  square  miles 
for  our  whole  territory  is  certainly  not  excessive,  and 
it  will  be  noticed  that  the  Potomac  River  is  not  in- 
cluded in  this  estimate*. 

Only  a  very  small  part  of  the  bottom  which  is  proper 
for  oyster-farming  is  now  occupied  by  natural  beds, 
and  it  is  safe  to  estimate  the  total  area  of  valuable 
oyster-ground  in  our  State  at  one  thousand  square 
miles,  or  six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  acres. 

Much  of  this  ground  could  be  made  to  yield  to  its 
cultivators  an  annual  profit  of  $1000  per  acre,  and  the 
profit  on  the  whole,  under  a  thorough  system  of  culti- 
vation, would  not  be  less  than  $100  per  acre.  It  is  not' 
too  much  to  affirm  that  when  the  whole  of  this  area 
shall  have  been  developed,  the  future  citizens  of  our 
State  will  be  able  to  draw  an  annual  income  of  over 
sixty  million  dollars  from  our  waters.  At  present, 
however,  their  value  is  very  much  below  this  estima- 
tion, and  under  the  present  system  of  management  it 
js  rapidly  disappearing  altogether.  The  oyster  crop 
has  never  been  very  much  more  than  10,000,000 
bushels,  and  its  value  to  the  fisherman  has  never,  in 
all  probability,  exceeded  $2,000,000.  It  is  not  easy  to 
ascertain  its  precise  value  with  great  accuracy,  but 
$2,000,000  annually  is  a  safe  estimate,  and  the  actual 
annual  value  of  the  oyster-beds,  under  a  system  which 
10 


2l8  THE  OYSTER. 

is  rapidly  leading  to  their  complete  destruction,  is 
thus  seen  to  be  less  than  three  per  cent  of  their  pos- 
sible value. 

An  abstract  statement  in  figures  is  always  open  to 
distrust,  and  in  order  to  guard  against  any  impression 
that  the  value  stated  above  for  our  oyster-grounds  is 
imaginary,  we  wish  to  call  attention  here  to  results 
which  have  actually  been  realized. 

In  1888,  Mr.  Fred.  A.  Gunby,  formerly  a  resident 
of  Crisfield,  Maryland,  obtained  from  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia a  right  to  cultivate  oysters  on  about  sixty-eight 
acres  of  bottom  in  Accomac  County,  Virginia.  The 
tract  lay  in  Tangier  Sound,  near  the  Maryland  line, 
and  opposite  that  part  of  Smith's  Island  which  is  in 
Virginia,  lying  just  south  of  Horse  Hammock.  He 
planted  that  year  28,000  bushels  of  oyster  shells,  at  a 
cost  of  about  $1200.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  to 
expense  in  employing  a  watchman  to  keep  off  in- 
truders, and  this  total  outlay  up  to  December,  1890, 
had  been  about  $3000.  In  April,  1890,  it  was  esti- 
mated that  there  were  30,000  bushels  of  oysters  on  his 
beds.  The  shells  were  found  full  of  young  oysters, 
which  were  growing  rapidly.  In  December,  1890,  it 
was  calculated  that  there  were  350,000  bushels  of  oys- 
ters on  the  ground,  worth  at  least  thirty  or  forty  cents 
a  bushel  in  the  market. 

He  was  not  permitted  to  gather  the  harvest  which 
he  had  sown,  but  his  experience  shows  the  rich  return 
which  would  be  yielded  by  this  sort  of  oyster-farming 
if  private  rights  could  be  respected ;  and  it  rests  with 
the  people  of  Maryland  to  decide  whether  our  re- 
sources shall  be  developed,  and  until  we  determine  to 


THE  OYSTER.  2ig 

avail  ourselves  of  our  natural  advantages  and  to  enjoy 
the  rich  harvest  which  lies  within  our  reach,  nothing 
can  be  accomplished. 

There  is  no  fear  that  the  market  will  ever  be  over- 
stocked with  an  article  of  food  so  cheap  and  dainty 
and  nutritious  as  the  oyster;  and  as  improvements 
in  the  method  of  packing  and  transporting  oysters  are 
introduced,  the  demand  for  oysters  to  supply  the  rap- 
idly increasing  population  of  our  country  will  fully  tax 
all  the  resources  of  our  waters.  This  great  business 
can  be  secured  just  as  soon  as  we  are  prepared  to 
demand  opportunities  to  develop  our  resources. 

Since  all  efforts  to  engage  in  oyster  culture  in  our 
State  at  present,  even  on  the  smallest  scale,  are  frus- 
trated by  the  claim  that  they  are  growing  upon  natural 
beds,  the  first  step  in  dealing  with  the  matter  must  be 
an  actual,  careful  survey  of  the  waters  of  the  State,  for 
the  purpose  of  designating,  first,  the  natural  beds,  or 
those  areas  over  which  the  oysters  are  now  so  abund- 
ant as  to  furnish  steady  production,  and  employment 
for  the  men  engaged  in  gathering  oysters  for  the  mar- 
ket; and,  secondly,  those  areas  which  are  now  under 
cultivation  as  planting  grounds ;  and,  thirdly,  the  area 
which  now  produces  no  oysters  for  the  market,  but 
where  oyster  culture  can  be  carried  on. 

After  this  is  provided  for,  the  next  step  is  to  decide 
what  shall  be  done  for  the  encouragement  of  each 
one  of  the  chief  subdivisions  of  the  oyster  industry. 

It  will  be  most  convenient  to  discuss,  first,  the 
measures  which  should  be  adopted  to  promote  the  in- 
terest of  the  tongmen  and  dredgers  who  now  earn 
their  living  by  fishing  the  public  beds  to  supply  the 


220  THE  OYSTER. 

market,  for  every  one  appreciates  that  the  destruction 
of  their  means  of  employment  would  be  a  great  mis- 
fortune to  all  the  people  of  the  State. 

After  much  thought  upon  the  matter  and  careful 
examination  of  all  the  opinions  which  have  been  ex- 
pressed, I  am  able  to  perceive  only  one  way  to  protect 
and  develop  this  branch  of  the  oyster  industry,  and  I 
am  sorry  to  say  that  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  even  this 
plan  is  practicable. 

It  is  the  co-operative  organization  of  the  oystermen 
themselves  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  public 
beds. 

If  they  were  to  form  an  association  for  this  purpose, 
and  were  to  organize  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  satisfy  the 
people  of  the  State  that  the  desired  end  would  be 
attained,  they  ought  to  be  aided  and  encouraged  to 
make  the  experiment. 

The  people  of  the  State  should,  however,  require 
ample  assurance  that  all  industrious,  law-abiding  oys- 
termen who  are  citizens  of  Maryland  shall  have  a 
chance  to  join  the  association  and  to  share  its  advan- 
tages ;  that  the  number  of  oysters  taken  from  the  pub- 
lic beds  each  year  shall  be  restricted  to  the  amount 
which  they  can  yield  without  injury;  that  a  proper 
proportion  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  these  oysters 
shall  be  spent  in  the  improvement  of  the  beds ;  that 
the  equitable  distribution  of  the  balance  among  the 
members  of  the  association  shall  be  provided  for,  and 
that  all  the  influence  of  the  association  shall  be  exerted 
to  enforce  its  rules  and  to  secure  respect  for  law  and  for 
private  property. 

If  the  people  of  Maryland  can  have  a  reasonable 


THE  OYSTER.  221 

assurance  that  all  these  ends  will  be  secured  by  the 
association,  I  believe  that  it  will  be  wise  for  the  State 
to  give  up  for  the  present  all  hope  of  immediate  rev- 
enue from  the  public  beds,  and  to  intrust  them  for  a 
term  of  years  to  this  association,  for  the  use  and  profit 
of  its  members. 

If  my  opinions  carry  any  weight,  I  wish  to  impress 
upon  the  people  of  the  State  the  fact  that  the  pros- 
perity of  our  citizens  is  very  much  more  important 
than  all  the  money  which  we  have  ever  received  from 
dredging  and  tonging  licenses,  and  I  also  wish  to  con- 
vince the  oystermen  that  they  must  depend  upon  their 
own  efforts  rather  than  upon  the  State  government. 

If  I  tell  the  oystermen  that  it  is  useless  for  them  to 
look  to  the  Legislature  for  the  improvement  and  de- 
velopment of  the  public  beds,  I  only  tell  them  what 
they  already  know  by  long  experience. 

It  has  been  proved  conclusively,  over  and  over  again, 
that  our  public  domain  cannot  be  protected  without 
the  aid  of  the  oystermen ;  but  if  they  would  co-operate 
for  the  enlightened  administration  of  their  own  busi- 
ness, they  would  need  no  new  restrictive  laws.  They 
do  not  even  need  to  send  men  to  the  Legislature  to 
look  after  their  interests,  nor  do  they  need  to  fee  law- 
yers to  make  out  a  case  for  them.  The  enlightened 
sympathy  of  our  people  is  worth  more  to  them  than 
any  number  of  men  in  the  General  Assembly,  or  than 
all  the  advice  of  the  best  lawyers  in  the  State.  For 
support  they  must  rely  upon  public  sentiment,  and  for 
success  they  must  trust  to  their  own  efforts.  If  our 
public  beds  are  to  be  saved  from  ruin,  it  must  be  by 
the  efforts  of  the  oystermen  themselves,  by  organiza- 


222  THE  OYSTER. 

tion  and  co-operation  for  the  purpose.  I  do  not  see 
any  other  way  to  bring  it  about,  and  I  hope  that  the 
plan  which  I  have  proposed  will  be  considered  by  the 
oystermen. 

While  there  are  some  reckless,  short-sighted  men  in 
the  business,  most  of  the  captains  and  vessel-owners 
are  men  who  have  the  respect  and  confidence  of  their 
neighbors,  and  the  intelligence  and  personal  influence 
which  are  needed  to  direct  and  control  public  senti- 
ment. 

I  ask  them  whether  it  is  not  worth  while  to  consider 
whether  a  plan  for  the  organization  of  a  co-operative 
oyster  company  cannot  be  drawn  up  and  put  into  good 
shape  during  the  next  year.  If  they  can  accomplish 
this,  I  am  sure  that  they  could  present  it  to  the  next 
Legislature,  with  an  endorsement  by  all  the  people  of 
the  State,  so  enthusiastic  and  unanimous  that  it  would 
command  the  support  of  every  one  who  is  interested 
in  their  welfare,  and  that  it  would  meet  prompt  recogni- 
tion by  the  Legislature,  even  if  there  were  not  a  single 
member  who  depended  on  the  votes  of  the  oystermen. 

The  complicated  details  of  the  organization ;  the 
qualifications  for  membership  ;  the  mode  of  enforcing 
the  laws  of  the  association  ;  the  way  in  which  rent  for 
the  use  of  vessels  and  apparatus  is  to  be  assessed  and 
collected ;  the  sums  which  are  to  be  paid  by  the 
association  for  the  experience  and  business  standing 
of  captains  and  other  officers ;  the  way  in  which  fish- 
ing is  to  be  kept  within  the  capacity  of  the  beds ;  the 
means  to  be  adopted  for  restoring  and  improving  the 
beds;  the  adjustment  of  the  conflicting  interests  of 
different  localities :  all  these  and  many  other  matters 


THE  OYSTER.  22$ 

of  detail  will  require  close  attention,  self-sacrifice  and 
careful  thought,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  the  difficul- 
ties will  be  found  insuperable  if  an  earnest  effort  is 
made  to  work  out  a  plan  of  co-operative  organization. 

Certainly  the  people  of  the  State  would  rejoice  to 
see  such  a  plan  developed  and  put  into  successful 
operation,  and  no  obstacles  would  be  thrown  in  the  way 
of  the  oystermen  by  outsiders.  The  only  difficulty  is 
the  one  which  comes  from  human  nature. 

The  native  American  is  too  ambitious,  too  fond  of 
competition,  and  too  desirous  of  full  scope  for  his  own 
individual  energy  and  intelligence  and  business  sharp- 
ness, to  take  kindly  to  a  co-operative  organization  ; 
but  the  only  way  to  afford  a  field  for  these  selfish  quali- 
ties is  private  oyster-culture,  and  if  our  natural  beds 
are  to  be  retained  as  public  ground  they  must  be  man- 
aged on  a  co-operative  system. 

No  one  can  say  whether  such  a  system  would  suc- 
ceed or  not,  but  it  is  well  worth  trying  for  a  term  of 
years.  If  at  the  end  of  this  period  the  result  were 
satisfactory,  all  the  people  of  the  State  would  be  proud 
of  our  oystermen,  and  it  could  then  be  renewed  for 
another  term,  or  forever,  as  seemed  best. 

If  the  organization  should  break  down  or  fail 
through  internal  dissension  or  personal  ambition  or 
conflict  of  interests,  no  great  harm  would  be  done,  for 
the  system  of  private  culture  could  then  be  tried. 

Some  of  the  oystermen  will  assert  that  they  have  no 
money  to  invest  in  the  improvement  of  the  beds,  and 
that  the  State  ought  to  help  them  out ;  that  what  little 
capital  they  had  has  been  lost  in  the  last  few  years, 
and  that,  in  order  to  be  successful,  the  fishery  would 


224  THE  OYSTER. 

require  so  much  restriction  for  the  next  two  or  three 
years  that  there  would  be  no  profits,  and  only  a  very 
scanty  living.  Unfortunately,  this  is  true,  but  it  will 
be  true  under  any  system,  and  at  present  things  are 
growing  worse  with  no  prospect  of  improvement, 
while  under  intelligent  co-operation  they  would  im- 
prove rapidly  after  the  first  two  years.  The  oyster- 
men  complain  that  they  have  no  capital  to  bridge  over 
this  gap,  but  they  will  have  to  get  over  it  somehow,  in 
any  case.  At  present  they  cannot  borrow,  for  they 
have  no  prospect  of  better  times  ahead. 

If,  however,  the  community  were  convinced  that  the 
organization  could  be  relied  upon  to  develop  and  im- 
prove the  property  intrusted  to  it,  there  would  be  no 
difficulty  in  raising  the  necessary  capital,  and  the 
amount  which  is  now  paid  by  the  State  for  licenses 
would  go  a  long  way  towards  the  improvement  of  the 
beds. 

The  only  plan  for  the  management  of  the  public 
oyster-grounds,  except  oyster  culture  by  a  co-opera- 
tive organization  of  oystermen,  is  cultivation  by  the 
State,  and  our  past  history  shows  conclusively  that 
the  State  can  do  nothing  unless  it  be  supported  by  the 
intelligent  co  operation  of  the  oystermen.  If  they  are 
able  to  co-operate  effectively  for  the  enforcement  of 
the  laws,  they  are  able  to  co-operate  for  the  improve- 
ment and  protection  of  their  own  business ;  they  can 
manage  it  for  themselves  very  much  better  than  the 
State  can  do,  and  they  do  not  need  State  aid.  Every 
oysterman  will  agree  with  me  that  if  the  money 
which  is  now  paid  for  licenses  is  to  be  spent  in  the 
improvement  of  the  public  beds,  the  oystermen  them- 


THE  OYSTER.  22$ 

selves  would  be  more  able,  under  a  co-operative  sys- 
tem, than  any  salaried  officers  who  might  be  appointed 
by  the  State,  to  use  it  to  advantage. 

State  protection  has  so  far  proved  a  total  failure, 
and  I  do  not  see  any  way  to  save  the  public  beds,  as 
common  fishing  grounds,  except  the  one  which  I  have 
proposed.  If  this  is  not  practicable,  the  sooner  the 
natural  beds  are  thrown  open  to  private  cultivators,  the 
better  it  will  be  for  all  concerned. 

The  artificial  culture  of  salt-water  food-fishes  is 
proper  work  for  the  State,  for  these  fishes  are  migra- 
tory :  they  cannot  be  confined  or  restricted  to  one 
spot,  and  there  is  no  way  to  secure  to  individuals  the 
enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  their  own  industry  in  this 
field  of  work.  The  case  of  the  oyster  is  quite  different. 
The  animal  is  as  fixed  and  sedentary  as  a  potato,  and 
its  cultivation  is  as  simple  as  any  other  branch  of  agri- 
culture. State  aid  is  unnecessary,  and  experience  has 
shown  that  it  is  totally  inefficient,  and  our  public  beds 
must  either  be  cultivated  by  the  oystermen  as  an  organ- 
ized body,  for  the  good  of  all,  or  they  must  cease  to 
be  public  ground,  and  must  be  cultivated  by  indi- 
viduals for  their  own  profit. 

It  now  remains  to  consider  the  measures  which 
should  be  adopted  for  the  protection  and  development 
of  the  other  branches  of  the  oyster  industry,  but  this 
is  comparatively  simple. 

First,  as  regards  the  tide-water  consumers  of  oys- 
ters. So  far  as  they  are  fishermen  upon  the  public 
beds,  they  should  become  members  of  an  oystermen's 
association  for  the  preservation,  restoration  and  devel- 
opment of  the  public  domain. 


226  THE  OYSTER. 

So  far  as  they  are  planters  upon  private  grounds, 
their  greatest  need  is  protection  in  their  rights  and 
encouragement  to  invest  their  time  and  money  in  the 
extension  of  the  planting  business.  As  soon  as  the 
first  condition  of  success,  respect  for  private  property, 
has  been  secured,  the  planting  industry  will  grow 
rapidly,  and  I  have  already  devoted  considerable 
space  (pp.  125-140)  to  the  discussion  of  improved 
methods. 

Success  in  planting  requires  security  in  the  tenure 
of  bottoms  to  be  used  for  the  purpose,  and  I  believe 
that  the  following  provisions  for  the  growth  of  the 
industry  should  be  made  by  the  State : 

Any  owner  of  land  the  lines  of  which  extend  under 
the  navigable  waters  of  the  State,  should  have  the  ex- 
clusive right  to  use  the  bottom  within  the  lines  for 
oyster  culture ;  the  owners  of  any  land  bordering  on 
any  landlocked  water  should  have  the  exclusive  right 
to  use  it  for  oyster  culture  above  the  line  where  it  first 
ceases  to  be  one  hundred  yards  wide  at  low  water ; 
any  one  who  shall  construct  an  artificial  pond  for  the 
culture  of  oysters  on  any  land  of  which  he  is  the 
owner,  shall  own  the  pond  and  its  contents ;  any 
owner  of  land  in  which  there  may  be  any  landlocked 
water  which  might  be  converted  into  a  pond  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  oysters  without  injury  to  navigation,  should 
be  permitted  to  construct  dams  or  gates  in  order  to 
convert  it  into  an  oyster-pond,  and  should  have  the  ex- 
clusive right  to  cultivate  oysters  upon  its  bottom.  In 
addition  to  these  provisions,  any  riparian  owner  should 
be  permitted  to  purchase  from  the  State,  at  a  nominal 
price,  the  right  to  cultivate  oysters  upon  the  bottoms 


THE  OYSTER. 

of  his  own  water-front,  to  a  specified  distance — say 
one  hundred  yards — beyond  low-water  mark  ;  and 
any  citizen  of  Maryland  should  be  permitted  to  pur- 
chase from  the  State,  at  a  nominal  price,  the  right  to 
cultivate  oysters  upon  an  area  not  to  exceed  fifteen 
acres,  on  any  bottom  not  already  appropriated  or  set 
apart  as  public  ground. 

In  all  these  cases  the  right  to  cultivate  oysters 
should  be  made  as  much  like  a  title  to  real  estate  as 
possible,  and  the  State  treasury  should  look  for  its  in- 
come from  future  taxation  of  the  property  rather  than 
.from  the  price  of  the  franchise.  After  the  planting  in- 
dustry has  become  well  established  it  will  be  able  to 
bear  its  proper  share  of  the  burden  of  taxation,  but  an 
infant  industry  should  not  be  hampered  or  taxed  for 
the  sake  of  public  revenue. 

These  provisions,  if  sustained  by  a  sound  and  liberal 
public  sentiment,  would  put  it  in  the  power  of  any 
citizen  to  engage  in  oyster-planting,  and  thus  to  pro- 
vide for  the  support  of  his  family. 

The  encouragement  of  oyster-farming  upon  the 
bottoms  in  the  open  waters  of  the  bay  now  remains  to 
be  considered. 

After  the  natural  beds  have  been  surveyed  and 
mapped  and  set  apart  as  public  grounds,  provision 
should  be  made,  ultimately,  for  the  encouragement  of 
private  oyster  culture  upon  all  bottoms,  outside  those 
limits,  not  otherwise  appropriated. 

As  nearly  all  of  this  book  has  been  devoted  to  the 
subject  of  oyster-farming,  it  is  not  necessary  to  add 
anything  more  to  show  its  great  importance.  Its  en- 
couragement is  a  matter  of  vital  interest  to  every  citi- 


228        ,  THE  OYSTEK. 

zen  of  Maryland,  for,  wisely  fostered,  it  will  be  an  ines- 
timable contribution  to  the  prosperity  of  all  our  peo- 
ple; it  will  provide  permanent,  stable  employment  for 
our  oystermen  ;  it  will  increase  the  packing  business, 
it  will  benefit  all  oyster  dealers,  all  shuckers  and  can- 
makers,  all  the  business  men  of  the  community;  it  will 
provide  cheap  and  abundant  food  for  our  people,  and 
it  will  contribute  to  the  revenues  of  the  State;  but  from 
its  very  nature  it  cannot  be  successfully  carried  on 
upon  a  small  scale,  and  steps  must  be  taken  to  attract 
capitalists  to  this  field  of  industry. 

Many  thoughtful  persons  believe  that  alt  private 
ownership  of  land  is  objectionable  and  injurious  to  the 
best  interests  of  society,  and  they  are  for  this  reason 
opposed  to  private  oyster  culture.  I  believe,  however, 
that  it  will  be  found,  on  careful  examination,  that  most 
of  their  arguments  and  objections  to  private  owner- 
ship lose  their  weight  when  applied  to  oyster  culture. 

Private  lands  above  water  are  often  used  in  such  a 
way  as  to  exclude  other  uses  more  beneficial  to  society ; 
but  this  cannot  happen  with  oyster  franchises,  for  the 
State  has  no  power  to  grant  any  absolute  title  to  the 
bottoms  under  navigable  water,  or  to  grant  any  right 
to  use  them  for  other  purposes  than  those  specified  in 
the  lease.  It  has  power  to  convey  to  private  citizens 
the  right  to  cultivate  and  harvest  oysters,  but  it  can  do 
no  more,  for  all  the  citizens  of  Maryland  have  the  com- 
mon right  to  catch  fishes  in  our  waters,  and  all  citizens 
of  the  United  States  must  always  retain  and  enjoy  the 
right  of  free  access  to  all  such  lands  for  purposes  of 
navigation.  It  is  clear  that  a  lease  of  the  bottoms  for 
oyster  culture  could  not  give  any  exclusive  personal 


THE  OYSTER.  2  29 

right  to  use  them  for  other  purposes,  nor  could  it 
deprive  our  citizens  of  their  common  right  to  use  our 
waters  for  other  purposes. 

It  is  also  urged  that  the  private  ownership  of  land  is 
unjust,  inasmuch  as  it  enables  individuals  to  appro- 
priate to  themselves  the  unearned  increase  of  value ; 
but  as  the  whole  bay  is  a  natural  highway,  where  no 
public  improvements  will  ever  be  needed,  as  no  towns 
will  ever  grow  up  on  the  water,  and  as  transportation 
by  water  is  so  cheap  that  the  distance  of  the  market 
counts  for  nothing,  and  as  the  bottoms  can  never  be 
used  for  any  other  purpose  than  oyster  culture,  the 
only  way  in  which  the  value  of  the  oyster  bottoms 
can  increase  is  by  the  extension  of  the  market,  and  if 
this  is  brought  about  by  the  energy  of  the  oyster 
farmers  it  will  not  be  just  to  assert  that  they  have  not 
earned  it.  The  value  of  our  bottoms,  for  rearing 
oysters,  is  as  great  now  as  it  will  ever  be,  and  while 
the  selling  price  of  land  will  rise  as  the  industry  ex- 
tends, the  increased  price  will  not  be  due  to  increased 
value,  but  to  more  general  recognition  of  its  value. 
Interest  in  the  subject  will  awaken  and  spread,  after 
the  success  of  the  first  experiments,  and  as  appre- 
ciation of  the  value  of  the  ground  becomes  more 
general,  and  the  demand  increases,  the  price  must 
rise,  although  the  actual  value  of  the  land  for  the  pro- 
duction of  food  will  not  be  any  greater  than  it  is  now. 

The  only  danger  to  be  guarded  against  is  that  some 
of  the  land  may  fall  into  the  hands  of  speculators,  who, 
instead  of  cultivating  it  and  adding  to  our  resources, 
will  keep  it  idle  and  unproductive  until  they  can  sell 
their  unimproved  rights  at  a  profit,  on  account  of  the 
increased  price  of  neighboring  improved  lands. 


230  THE   OYSTER. 

This  difficulty  seems  very  formidable  on  paper,  but 
it  can  never  exist  on  any  extensive  scale,  for  it  would 
in  that  case  defeat  its  own  end,  and  it  is  clear  that  it  is 
from  its  own  nature  transitory,  and  that  it  will  disap- 
pear as  soon  as  oyster  culture  becomes  general  and 
all  the  land  comes  into  profitable  use. 

I  believe  that  ultimately  it  will  be  found  to  be  the 
wisest  policy  for  the  State  to  make  the  franchises  for 
oyster  culture  perpetual,  but  since  most  of  the  advan- 
tages of  private  enterprise  can  be  secured  by  leases 
for  a  term  of  years,  it  may  perhaps  be  wise  to  try  this 
plan  for  one  or  two  terms,  and  to  leave  the  question  of 
absolute  sale  for  future  consideration. 


^ 


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